75:08 April 28, 2023

The Cougar Press

Friday, April 28, 2023

VHS college and career center holds a guest speaker series

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The college and career center has kicked off its career speaker series that began on March 15 with Charles Su, a senior project manager for Amazon and a Yale University and VHS alum. He was the speaker chosen for the business and finance section.

The speaker series will continue into April and May, with guest speakers from all different career pathways and their personal stories to share, like how they got to their position, what schooling they went through and what it took to work their way to their current job. Sign-ups for all sessions are in the college and career center, but once filled, there is a waitlist.

Sonja Frias, a VHS counselor, said, “Ms. Roberts has developed a young alumni speaker series — meaning she has speakers who are previous VHS graduates that come to speak about what they are doing in the world with their

The college and career center that is usually used for college guest speakers has now been shifted into career pathway speakers for the end of the school year and into the spring. The purpose for this is because not all students want to go straight to a fouryear university. The college and career center thought it would be nice to appeal to all VHS students and offer guest speakers that can spark new interests in students.

New guest speakers coming to Ventura High School to inspire students for their futures

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Pulido said, “I think it offers different experiences and no one’s path is the same or linear so I think it’s good to hear different stories and hopefully a story inspires a student to like to pursue that path.”

“I think now and in the future [students can benefit from these guest speakers]...”

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“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” -Arthur Ashe Healthcare will include Nox Espejel, a dental hygienist, and Miles du Mosch, a physical therapist, both in May. Public safety will showcase Jose Vargas, VC sheriff, and Casey Schroepfer, a firefighter, which will both take place in April. Also in April is Aspen Levitt, whose profession is in animation and film. The law, the beauty industry and information technology are all to be determined.

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Opinion: Between the school and city bus, which is the bumpier ride?

Caroline Pulido, the college and career technician, said, “I figured we would invite guest speakers and have them talk about their experiences and their profession and see if there’s anything students can take away for themselves.”

There will be a guest speaker for healthcare, film and entertainment, law, public safety, the beauty industry, information technology and the one that has already passed business and finance. With so many different career pathways, students can learn about what it takes to get to these jobs and if they could be a good fit for them.

The college and career center is room 106, where all the guest speakers present to students. Pulido said, “I think for me, if a lot of students come in that’s great but even if there’s five hopefully one or two of those students is inspired.”

VUSD to improve quality of school lunches

Alejandro Hernandez

In the 2021-22 school year, the VUSD Food and Nutrition Services Department department began transitioning the district’s school lunches to be fresher, reducing the amount of pre-packaged food served. As a result, most middle and high schools in the district will install tilt skillets to accommodate an increase in cooking safely, sandwich bars serving freshly-prepared

2023-24

sandwiches and begin to serve nearly exclusively foods made with whole ingredients. VHS already has a tilt skillet installed and an operational sandwich bar but will follow suit with the VUSD in making nutritional changes to student meals; the school will serve fresher foods cooked with raw ingredients.

VUSD Director of Food and Nutrition Services Kara Muniz said, “We want to move towards more scratch cooking,

[with] raw ground beef and chicken. We do a lot of speed scratch [cooking], which means most of our meats come in cooked, but we add stuff to them. We’re really getting away from packaged food. Right now, we have two items that are packaged; we [carry] a pan dulce that students absolutely love and a muffin. Next year, we will make homemade muffins, so we’ll have one [pre-packaged] item next year.”

Muniz said, “The two products we are planning to purchase raw, [ground beef and chicken], will cost about 40 percent [more] than the current cooked product. These two products will only be used once a month, so it should not impact us financially. As we look to more whole foods, we will have to make sure it is [of] reasonable cost.”

Denzel Vo ’26 said, “Changing to fresher food is a positive change in our school lunches, especially when some of these processed foods may not be healthy for a young

Ventura High School PTSA to hold May elections

demographic.”

VUSD observes legal caloric and dietary requirements for all of its students as set by the USDA, though the requirements are relative to their grade levels. As for high school students, they are to have an average of 750 to 850 calories per lunch meal over a school week.

Muniz said, “The less processed food we provide to students, the better, and starting off with non-packaged [foods] and moving towards more raw [ingredients] is what’s going to get us there. We cannot, as a district, say we’re going to go from [serving] completely processed food to [cooking] raw [food] overnight. It takes time and it takes training. We have to be very responsible when we are serving stuff from the raw state. [But] health wise, the less chemicals that go into [foodstuffs], [the] better [it is] for you, and that’s our goal. We want whole foods for our students.”

Cougar critique: “Daisy Jones and The Six”

Photo by: Lourdes Almalab

The VUSD will change its school cafeterias to facilitate changes in meals for the 2023-24 school year. Photo by: Alejandro Hernandez

Photo by: Lia Hersh

Graphic by: Ava Mohror

Photo by: Alejandro Hernandez

Christopher Morrison

Jocelyn Wood

School lunch changes to begin in the

school year

Lourdes Almalab

Ventura High School’s language madness

French and Spanish classes add their own twist on March Madness

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The month of March is one that drives rooms 119 and 225 “mad.” March madness originally is classified as a bracket that pertains to basketball rankings and predictions. However, in this case, VHS language teachers Grace Ellberg and Oliver Cougard have added a unique twist that allows their students to interact and learn from songs.

Ellberg said, “The students love certain songs and so much so that they listen to them on their free time and it’s just a really fun way for them to learn about different artists around the world. Also, they of course love to hate certain ones, so that’s always fun but the feedback has been positive, so that’s why I keep doing it each year. … My students of course learn more Spanish by looking at the lyrics, they learn about more Spanish

speaking countries not just one and they learn a little bit more about the type of music in the Spanish speaking world.”

Amanda Lubbos ‘25, a Spanish 2 student,said, “I think the repetition of hearing the songs over and over again helps gain better knowledge of Spanish because it helps point out new words and practice hearing words I was already familiar with.”

The language madness is supposed to expose students to French and Spanish culture while involving them in a process that encourages them to generate a deeper understanding of their selected language.

Amelia Mcleod ‘24, a French student, said, “The Manie Musical stuff is really cool, I enjoy the songs and it’s interesting to think that these songs are popular in France.”

The month is used as a possibility to dive deep into the cultures and

traditions of the French and Spanish-speaking world.

French teacher Olivier Cougard said, “There is so much culture in these songs all these French speaking countries and so we watch a video in class so people can see images [and] documentaries from these different countries. I make sure we spend some time studying the biography of the singers so we know where the singers [were] born, the languages they speak. There is a lot

of culture which I like because I think when you learn a foreign language you also learn the culture.”

Lubbos said, “There are many great songs but I have to say my favorite is ‘Hablando Por Hablar’ by Alex Cuba and Cimafunk. … I think it would be cool if my Spanish class next year participated because it’s always interesting and exciting seeing the results from the match up because it’s either a really big difference or pretty close.”

Ventura High School girls beach volleyball goes up against Oxnard High School

Belen Hibbler

The VHS girls beach volleyball team played at 3 p.m. on March 28 against Oxnard High School at VHS’ home beach, San Pedro. There were three rounds total. Rounds one and two consisted of three separate games each and the third round consisted of just one game. There were five varsity games and two JV games in total.

The Cougars won the whole match with a full sweep. Varsity won 5-0 and JV won 2-0. The beach volleyball team has finally been able to get into their season with these recent matches. The beginning

of their season was a little rocky due to not having courts because they got washed away in the rain.

The girls beach volleyball season officially started in February and ends in April.

The continuous rain in Ventura has also caused the team to have to reschedule games to the end of the season because the sport can only be played outside.

Marley Haener ‘23, a beach volleyball player, said, “On days where it’s very windy it’s kind of just a serving game. I think we did pretty good. I haven’t played with my partner, [Sophia Sletten ‘24], the whole season so I think un-

der the circumstances we did pretty well.”

According to Vanguard Volleyball, if the wind is strong and consistent in a certain direction, it can make it hard to control the ball on the court. The players have to properly navigate their playing around the weather.

“It’s really windy so [my mindset] was just focused on trying to control what we can control and letting [OHS] make their mistakes. Trying to deal with the wind is difficult but we played really well,” said Lily McMahon ‘23, a beach volleyball player.

Since there are three sets in one game,

each winning duo needs to win at least two out of the three. If they lose one set, they still have the chance to bounce back with the next two.

Haener said, “[Af-

ter a badset] I like to put my feet in the sand and bury them as deep as possible to focus [more] on that and forget about what just happened. I kind of reset like that.”

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Davin Dedman

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Santiago Gonzales

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Ruby Lacques

Julian Martinez

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Christopher Morrison

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VHS defeats Oxnard High School in one fell swoop on the beach

Marley Haener ’23 and Sophia Sletten ’24, left to right, high five each other during a set. “This is [Sletten’s and I’s] first time playing a game together but we’ve played in practice a little bit,” said Haener.

Photo by: Belen Hibbler

Ellberg said, “[My favorite song is] ‘Arbohdb’ by Osuna Emgin.”

Photo by Davin Dedman

Ellberg showing the Spanish song of the day to her period six class.

Photo by: Davin Dedman

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LGBTQ+ students and allies welcome at the GSA

The VHS GSA, a club dedicated to LGBTQ students and allies, formerly stood for the Gay-Straight Alliance. Today it stands for the Gender-Sexuality Alliance, a change made to reduce social stigmas and include people of various sexual and gender identities.

GSA President Thomas Funnell ’25 said, “The purpose of the GSA is to create a safe space for any LGBTQ person or ally and provide a space for anyone who wants to learn about the community. [GenderSeuxality Alliance] is more inclusive to everyone, which is why we changed [the club’s name].”

The GSA has 10 members and two leaders: Funnell and vice president Reece Pickett ’23. The club meets during lunch every Tuesday in room 102 and focuses on spreading awareness about the LGBTQ community on campus.

Funnell said, “In our club, we like to publicize issues, especially at school and around the world. We

GSA

like to educate ourselves about queer history and how the LGBTQ community has changed over time, and how it is now. Most recently, during [the] food faire [on Nov. 18, 2022], we handed out pamphlets with a bunch of different organizations on them which [are] devoted to helping queer people.”

To join the club, students need only attend its meetings. The only requirement to join is that one must be an ally of the LGBTQ community.

Women’s History Month recognized at Ventura High School

The month of March is Women’s History Month; how is VHS celebrating? the featured women. Another way VHS and the VUSD have celebrated Women’s History Month is by putting together a website with resources for staff, students and families to further learn about historical women. The website has opportunities for viewers to look further into the lives and significant contributions of women in history, including links to videos as well as links to short stories about influential women.

Funnell said, “An ally is anybody who supports the LGBTQ community and goes out of their way to support people when they’re being mistreated or underrepresented in spaces that talk about them. Being an ally is a [criterion] for being in the club in the first place because if you’re not willing to be an ally in the first place, there’s not much we can do to help [them]. You can be an ally and identify anyway.

March is Women’s History Month, where the women in history who have paved the way for the world today are honored. VHS has been encouraging students to learn more about influential women in history during the month of March. There have been several ways VHS has celebrated Women’s History Month. One of these ways is through the daily school announcements slideshow. On the slideshow, there are one to two women featured each day, listing their impact and importance in history. Some of the women featured in the slideshow have been activist for female education Malala Yousafzai and 19th century mathematician Ada Lovelace. Due to the recently added communication course all students have on Canvas, they can now access the slideshow at any time, making it more accessible to go back and reread or learn more about

Principal Marissa Rodriguez shared a historical woman she admires. She said, “Mother Teresa had a heart of gold and never-ending empathy for people. She [was] fully devoted and committed her life to humanitarian work. Many of her famous quotes are centered around carrying out contagious acts of love/peace and service with small impactful acts.”

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Opinion: I don’t believe that the hat rule is still relevant, do you?

Christopher Morrison

There’s a rule in the VHS student handbook stating that you may not wear hats in class upon a teacher’s request. We are sure you have had to deal with a teacher saying that someone

can’t wear your beanie, hat, accessory, etc., in their class for no apparent reason. This rule was implemented because it is hard at times to identify a person with a hat or accessory. We tend to get offended by this, and likely many other students do as well.

Our opinion on hats in class is that they should not be prohibited in any way

if they aren’t harmful to the classroom or its operations. If there’s no reason to stop a student from wearing a hat or head accessory in a classroom setting, then why stop them? We feel that this rule is outdated and shouldn’t be enforced, or at the very least as harshly as it used to be.

Many students will wear a hat or something similar to cover up a bad hair day, or maybe they didn’t have time to do their hair before school. Whatever the reason is, it’s often seen as disrespectful to teachers when your hat is on during class. As we and many more didn’t know the purpose of this rule, it leaves us wondering why this rule exists. We think there’s more to this rule than just being able to identify someone.

As stated in the student handbook on page 15, “Hats, caps and other head coverings, including scarves

and headbands, should not be worn inside the classrooms per teachers’ directives. Faith based or health related head coverings are exempted. Also, gloves are not to be worn.” We tend not to like teachers who restrict or prohibit head coverings without an explanation as much and dread going to their class. We find the rule to be useless in the current day.

Ne’John Rice ‘26 said, “My head gets very cold. I tend to feel weird and uncomfortable [and] I don’t like it when I get told to take my hat off. I tend to feel weird, like I wear [my hat] all the time. It’s like a signature for me. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth about the teacher.”

Rice brings up many good points, and we really agree with Rice that we all don’t like the teachers that will make us take our beanies off. We dread going to their class for this reason, as it

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restricts a large sense of our self expression and general style just for entering their classroom.

Rice, according to his own words, has no malicious motives or intentions when wearing any sort of head accessory, it’s how he expresses himself, and the school rule doesn’t allow him to do that. This tends to create more of a distrust between school faculty and students, seeing as how they could feel a bit restricted considering it’s a rule they don’t know the reason for. We think that it’s because situations like this make the rule a bit redundant.

Coal Hernadez ‘26 said, ”The hat rule has to be changed and is seen as disrespectful and seen as a distraction to teachers, but to a student can just be seen as a fashion piece, not even seen as that.”

Continued on. . . thecougarpress.org

The Cougar Press is a completely student-run, public forum of the Ventura High School community. We strive to present all sides of an issue fairly and without bias while being as resourceful to our readers as possible. 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 for The Cougar Press and to submit photos and videos. We welcome all submissions but may edit them for clarity and brevity. This public forum is only as good as the community support it receives.

President Thomas Funnell ‘25, leftmost, said, “The general climate [for LGBTQ students on campus] is accepting. But there are some individuals, as there always are, who try and make it difficult for people like us.” Photo by: Alejandro Hernandez

Ava Mohror

Beanies are one of the many head accessories and items often prohibited in classes due to school-sanctioned head covering restrictions. Photo by: Santiago Gonzalez

The club open to people of all identities

Alejandro Hernandez

Davin Dedman

Santiago Gonzales

AVID fundraises for Syria and Turkey

According to World Vision, a global Christian relief and development agency, on Feb. 6, 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and a series of strong tremors and aftershocks devastated the southeast of Turkey near its border with Syria. Then again, on Feb. 20, southern

Turkey was hit with another 6.3 magnitude earthquake. The death toll from these earthquakes and aftershocks has surpassed 47,000 and continues to rise. Hundreds of thousands of people are left injured and displaced across Turkey. Reports from World Vision have indicated that over 47,000 buildings have been destroyed or damaged.

On Feb. 28, Ventura High School teacher Terri

To use purses or backpacks?

Withers-Schroeder and her period two AVID class decided to take action. They were devastated to hear about the events that occurred and found that it would be best for them to fundraise for Doctors Without Borders. According to the Doctors Without Borders website, they aim to bring humanitarian medical assistance to victims of conflict, natural disasters, epidemics and health care exclusion.

Lorena Alvarez ‘23, an AVID student, said, “The AVID program decided to fundraise with Doctors Without Borders. Before we agreed to collaborate with the organization, we did our research and assured our donations would go directly towards supporting earthquake victims.”

Doctors Without Borders is a non-profit organization that has been providing food, water and healthcare around the globe for the past fifty years. The organization takes donations in order to save lives and expand its care in crisis areas.

From approximately Feb. 24 to March 10, AVID went to all period two classes to ask for donations.

Withers-Schroeder said, “I have a student who’s

AVID’s QR code above is still active to send donations though the class no longer accepts cash donations. Graphic by: Kendall Garcia

from Syria and I just literally watched her heartbreak when we were talking about the earthquake and just the overwhelming unfairness that that part of the world had to face. They’ve been hit so hard with so many things, they’re already having a refugee crisis, been in civil war and then these giant earthquakes like four really big ones but then lots of aftershocks too and we just felt so bad that we thought how can we do something.”

AVID made the fundraising a competition for all period two classes. The class

that raised the most money won a breakfast party. The class that won the breakfast party was Cathy Solis’ special academic instruction class, room 86. Although AVID made the goal to raise $7,000, they are yet to hit this goal. The competition for period two classes is closed, but people can still donate online through AVID’s link. Withers-Schroeder said, “Because we decided to go with Doctors Without Borders our link is still active and you can still donate, you just can’t donate cash anymore. We would love it if people would continue to donate.”

Kids have brought backpacks to school with them since the late 1940s, are they still just as popular today? In a Time article “A Brief History of

the Modern Backpack,” between the 1930s and 1960s, students began to carry canvas or leather bags that were singlestrapped, more commonly referred to now as purses. It has grown in popularity for students at VHS to use purses rather than carrying backpacks. Usually, the purse is carried with a binder or Chromebook

in hand, or sometimes just all by itself. It leaves some speculation as to where the rest of their school supplies go and why they don’t just carry a backpack. How do they carry their things, and what is the appeal of using purses and shoulder bags?

Penelope De Soto ‘24 said, “I alternate notebooks and notepads based on my block periods, so I have a notebook for two four six [days] and then one three five [days].”

Since VHS has implemented the block schedule, lots of students don’t feel the need to carry all of their supplies every day, so they have a lighter load. Being able to carry only a few books for a few classes per day as opposed to six or seven classes a day gives students more liberty to choose how they’ll carry their things. People enjoy backpacks because of the diversity of their styles, colors and shapes. Purses offer the same amount of diversity and can be unique to each person that

Ruvalcaba has been using a purse for about two years. She said, “I just carry [my books] in my hands, you know?” Graphic by: Julian Martinez

wears them too. Although at school they serve the same purpose, for school supply storage, purses usually are immensely smaller.

“[My purse] is very cute and I don’t have to carry much around,” said Jocelyn Matehuala ‘26.

In NBC News’ article “Why Our Bags are Wrecking Our Backs,” Vivian Manning-Schaffel dives deep into the negatives of both the backpack and one strapped purse on our backs, but they say the

main reason is that most are overstuffing them. The very reason some students use one-strap bags besides backpacks at school is because of the lack of pain they experience.

Andrea Ruvalcaba ‘23 said, “Backpacks hurt my back and [my purse] is lighter. I have no back pain with a purse.”

“[I’ve been using a tote bag] for two years now. I think I experience less back pain, only because of the way I alternate my books,” said De Soto.

Matthias Bonilla ‘24 and Nicholas Morales ‘24, left to right, before speaking to a period class about their AVID class’ fundraiser. Photo by: Isabella Rivera

Penelope De Soto ‘24 said, “I like how [my bag] doesn’t have a zipper and I can just easily access the things in there. I also don’t like how backpacks feel on my back.” Graphic by: Belen Hibbler

Kendall Gracia

The period two AVID class works to raise funds for Syria and Turkey

Why do some students use purses over backpacks at school?

Sophia Nacu

Belen Hibbler

Lourdes Almalab

Julian Martinez

Jocelyn Wood

Graphic by: Brianna Ramirez, Davin Dedman and Anastasia Nisky

Graphic by: Leslie Castro

Graphic by: Santiago Gonzales

Graphic by: Ruby Lacques

Graphic by: Ruby Lacques

Special guests visit Ventura High School to perform a concert

On March 28, VHS teacher Christian Gallo brought special guest musicians Guy Martin ‘88 and Jayden Secor ‘20 to perform for his History of American Music class during period two. The two played guitar and sang for 30 minutes of the class, taking requests from students as well as answering questions about their instruments. Martin and Secor are VHS alumni. Martin was in the graduating class of 1988, along with Gallo, and Secor graduated in 2020. Both are now musicians playing gigs in the Ventura County area. Martin also owns a recording studio called Black Couch Studio in Ventura.

The two started the session with a freestyle blues jam, followed by “Crossroads” by Cream and “Pride and Joy” by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Secor and Martin also played an original song by Secor, “Moving Man.” After these songs, Martin and Secor took requests from the audience.

Students sit in their seats to watch the duo perform. “The American music canon is so deep and diverse, and there is so much history tied to it that it’s really fascinating to me and hopefully students in the class will pick up on that as well and find it interesting and rewarding,” said Gallo. Photo by: Christian Gallo Gallo requested “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. To end the mini-concert, the two played “Mary Had a Little Lamb” by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble.

“I’ve only recorded at Guy’s [studio]. I did an EP in December of 2020, and I’ve had three singles since. I have a fourth one called “Stick shootin’ son of a gun” coming out on April 28,” said Secor. At 20 years old, Secor plays three to four gigs a week, including opening for the Guy Martin Band the weekend of March

Opinion: Taking the “foreign” out of foreign films

Foreign cinema is finally dominating, rather than only influencing, the U.S. film climate

““I loved [Martin and Secor’s concert]. Best performance of the year. They really shredded that guitar.” The guest artists were not a surprise to Gallo’s class. “He usually tells us [about bands] before [they] come in,” said Callahan. Gallo said, “I think it’s important to see live music in a variety of styles that some students either have never seen live or wouldn’t have the chance to see live.

Continued on. . . thecougarpress.org

Ventura High School receives unanimous gold ratings at Rancho Campana Music Festival

Wind Ensemble I, Wind Ensemble II Honors and String Orchestra II Honors all received the highest rating

Katie Rundle

On March 9, VHS’ Wind Ensemble I and Wind Ensemble II Honors attended the Rancho Campana Music Festival and received superior gold ratings. The next day, the String Orchestra II Honors attended and received the same rating, 90 to 100 percent, based on performance and level of difficulty. VHS has received unanimous gold ratings every year over the past 14 years at the Camarillo festival.

Ratings were decided by adjudicators who are professional musicians and long-time music educators.

There were 28 schools present at the event, which was three days long, although VHS only attended two days as they were able to fit all three groups performing into that timespan.

VHS music director and teacher Paul Hunt said,

“The Rancho Campana Music Festival is where local schools participate through the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association. Similar to sports and CIF, SCSBOA is our organization. Four adjudicators listen to groups from throughout SoCal and rate them based on their performance and level of difficulty. Our Wind Ensemble

II Honors and String Orchestra

II Honors entered the highest classification (Level six - Collegiate/Professional Level). Wind Ensemble I

entered at [a] basic high school classification.”

Wind Ensemble I performed “Anthem for Winds and Percussion,” by Claude T. Smith, “Luna,” by Yukiko Nishimura and “Amparito Roca,” by Jaime Texidor. Oboe player Adeline Vertucci ‘25 said, “I have been playing music for seven years. I think we performed really well, there were some things that didn’t really go as planned but overall it was one of our best performances. I didn’t expect to get the rating we did just because there were some things we could’ve done better. I’ve only done one other festival and it was very different from this one, the way the judges judged things was different and [this festival] felt a lot more real than the other festival I did.”

Wind Ensemble II performed “Lyrical Fantasy,” by Hirokazu Fukushima and “Vigils Keep,” by Julie Giroux.

Saxophone player Reese Whitley ‘23 said, “I thought the performance went well, we did perform at 9 p.m. so we were all starting to get a little tired, but we persevered and did the best we could. I think overall everyone had a great time.

Continued on. . . thecougarpress.org

When Bong Joon Ho’s 2019 film “Parasite” became the first foreign movie to win best picture at the 92nd Oscars, many knew that a pivotal point in Hollywood had come. The film, which grossed $263 million worldwide, was an introduction for many to the world of Korean cinema. Its commentary on social classes made it fitting to be the film that appealed to the masses rather than solely the arthouse fanatics that foreign movies had interested previously, paving the way for French film “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” to become a hit in the U.S. It also encouraged diversity in American filmmaking, as seen with “Everything Everywhere all at Once,” where some of the dialogue is in Mandarin or Cantonese.

Emily Sehati ‘24 said, “I think foreign films are one of the few ways that we can learn about a culture, its values and way of life in an intimate way. We are able to expose ourselves to different art forms that we wouldn’t typically see in America.”

The groundbreaking success of “Parasite” was almost inevitable, given its careful attention to detail and universal subject matter. Ho, the film’s director, meticulously storyboarded every scene from the movie and leaped between genres when writing the dialogue, a practice South Korean films have been doing for years, but Hollywood films refuse to adopt. South Korean films have also been praised for their originality, with “Train to Busan” or “The Host” proving that horror and morality can coexist, while most Hollywood hits are adaptations or part of a franchise and don’t provide any substance beyond being entertaining.

Although “Parasite” has greatly influenced the culture of cinema in the U.S. in more recent years,

foreign films, most notably Asian films, have influenced Western movies for decades. Akira Kurosawa, a Japanese filmmaker, was cited by George Lucas as being a major inspiration for Star Wars, with his samurai iconography inspiring the lightsaber and Jedi garb and his wipe transitions becoming a defining feature of the saga. Kurosawa’s film “Seven Samurai” was also a direct influence on the 1960 spaghetti western “The Magnificent Seven.” Wong Kar Wai, a Chinese filmmaker, inspired Quentin Tarantino’s bold, comicbook like color palettes with his vibrant and saturated colors that he is renowned for in addition to inspiring the framing of numerous scenes in Barry Jenkins’ film “Moonlight.”

The main reason for the success and originality of foreign films over the decades has been the lack of Hollywood commercial constraints, which has allowed foreign directors to express themselves more freely than American directors. When it comes to Korean cinema, however, filmmaker Park Chan Wook points to Squid Game creators Hwang Dong-hyuk and Ho, both in college during South Korea’s struggle for democracy in the 1980s. He emphasizes this as a factor behind the nation’s reputation for producing works that are highly attuned to issues of social class and political struggle.

Faith Cherry ‘24 said, “I’ve seen [‘Squid Game’ and ‘Parasite’] and they’re pretty baller, so they made me want to watch more films like them.”

“Squid Game” and “Parasite” are two pieces of Korean cinema that crossed the barrier of subtitles with modern American audiences and became major hits.

Continued on. . . thecougarpress.org

Jocelyn Wood

String Orchestra Honors II performs “10th Sinfonia” and “Overture to the Hebrides Suite.”

Photo by: Andi Kish

Guy Martin and Jayden Secor visit Christian Gallo’s History of American Music class Brianna Ramirez

Katie Rundle

Julian Martinez Ava Mohror

Ella Duncan Weston Blackburn

Leslie Castro

Ho’s 2019 film “Parasite,” tells the story of a poor family tricking and infiltrating a rich family’s home. Graphic by: Jocelyn Wood

Ventura High School boys varsity volleyball falls to Dos Pueblos High School

Josh Woodworth is already making a name for himself

Only a sophomore, Woodworth already shows promise to bring many wins to VHS

On March 28, the VHS boys varsity volleyball lost to the Dos Pueblos High School Chargers in a best of five game with DPHS winning the first three sets. The first set had a final score of 7-25, the second set ended 14-25 and the third ended 17-25.

Volleyball games are played in the best of five matches. The first team to reach 25 points in a set wins, unless it reaches the fifth set. In the fifth set, a team only has to reach 15 to win. The team must also have at least a two point advantage before the set can end.

Assistant Coach

Edward Pacula said, “I thought [the game] was good. I thought the boys played really well. [DPHS] is a really good team and I thought the boys competed against them. … In the first game I would say [they could improve] their hitting and they did improve on that in the second and third set.”

Head Coach Tim

Mays said, “I thought [the team] fought valiantly against a very tough Dos Pueblos team. And I’m really proud of how they had a great time while fighting hard. We need to improve on communication … hitter coverage…servereceive passing.”

Dos Pueblos High School has a record of 16-7 and are ranked third in the Channel League and had many strong hitters. Many of DPHS’ points came off of spikes that VHS was unable to make passes off of.

Middle blocker and defensive specialist, Max Mechtenberg ‘25, was in VHS’ starting lineup and remained in the game for the entirety of the game. Mechtenberg has some special rituals he does to prepare for volleyball games. He said, “I listen to music and I stretch out my legs just to get warmed up.”

Mechtenberg said, “We could have done better, but then again they’re a good team.

Continued on. . . thecougarpress.org

Anthony Fast Horse gallops past the finish line

Fast Horse was one of two VHS students to make it to cross country nationals this year

Kinda Mehael

Anthony Fast Horse

‘24 has been running since the third grade. He ran for De Anza Middle School and the Ventura Tigres, a youth track and field and cross country club. Now

Fast Horse has been running for VHS track and field as well as cross country on varsity since he was a freshman; he is currently a junior. VHS track and field and cross country coach Tyree Cruz said, “It is not typical for a boy to be on varsity as a ninth grader. They have to develop

‘25 has been playing varsity baseball at VHS for the entirety of his high school baseball career. He received Player of the Game for baseball on Feb. 14 because he pitched for four innings and was able to strike out seven. In the 202122 season, as a freshman, Woodworth earned All County Baseball First Team, an award from the Pacific View League. He also plays football for VHS, and this fall season, he earned the Channel League Honorable Mention award for his performance.

baseball,” said Woodworth. The USA Baseball played Cuba on June 11, 2022, in the championship game in Mexico. Woodworth said, “The last inning was great, bases loaded three, two and two out and we ended the game striking each other out. And we all dog-piled and were celebrating by swinging the [U.S.] flag around. After that we got ready to leave back home to the [U.S.], but we are still a family, and we still communicate.”

Anthony

Horse ‘24 running at the

University Meet of Champs. Fast Horse placed third in the boys one mile run finals, with a time of 4:10.16. Photo by: Raymond

more and get stronger. [Putting Fast Horse on varsity as a freshman] was all based on times and educated guesses.”

Fast Horse runs a variety of different events for VHS. This year Fast Horse went to the NikeCross Nationals along with Sadie Engelhardt ‘25. The two were the only students from VHS to qualify for this meet.

Fast Horse said, “The [events I run in track are] the two lap race called an 800 –which is my second best event,

and then we have the mile, which is 1,600 meters, and then the 3,200. In cross, we run 5,000 meters, which is 5k, we have an event for that on the track for some of the club races. I made the state meet, placed fourth for all state, then went to nationals to compete in Portland.”

In the cross country nationals this year in Portland, Fast Horse placed 60th during his 5k race against 198 other male runners. Fast Horse had a time of 15:53.8.

Cruz said, “[Fast Horse] runs about 65 miles a week. He does a long run of about 12 to 15 miles once a week. One day of faster pace intervals at 1600 pace or 800 pace. He does another day of longer/slower intervals of 1000m, 1600m, 3200m or a tempo run of up to six miles. He does drills and strides as warm up on harder days and lifts weights Mondays and Thursdays. [Fast Horse] is better than most any other athlete I have coached. He’s focused on a goal and what it will take to get there. That often means running when you do not feel like it. It can also mean hitting the correct paces in workouts. Mostly young fast runners want to train fast, often times, in order to get the most out of themselves, they have to slow down.”

Nationals was Fast Horse’s last meet of the Cross Country season, and he is now going on to the Track and Field season for 2022-23.

“This season we have a lot of really fast guys, so we’re thinking about a national team qualifier, and then for just individually in track I’ve been trying to make the state meet, possibly one of the national meets. And then I ran a mile last Saturday,” said Fast Horse.

Continued on. . . thecougarpress.org

Woodworth has been playing baseball since he was four, and his inspiration comes from his dad and watching the game. His love for the game increased when he actually began playing. Woodworth was also granted the opportunity to play with USA Baseball last year. USA Baseball is an organization that governs amateur baseball. Woodworth was invited to the 15U National Team Training Camp by USA Baseball, located at the Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Arizona taking place August 14 to 23. Woodworth attended the camp following National Team Championships Arizona, which took place at the Peoria Sports Complex.

“There is a lot that I love about baseball, but some of my favorite things about playing baseball are being able to have fun, compete, play on different fields and just playing

“It was amazing because we all bonded great and were close together like a family. We all enjoyed and still enjoy being around each other,” said Woodworth.

Not only is Woodworth recognized at the nationwide scale but also at VHS with his teammates that enjoy playing with him. Jon Gurrola ‘24 said, “He [Woodworth] can be productive on both sides of the field.”

“My favorite thing about Josh is his passion for the game. [He is] emotional, explosive and active,” said Gurrola.

The varsity VHS baseball team is currently 4-9, advancing in wins over FTHS and other schools. Woodworth said, “One thing I would add to VHS baseball is some supplies to help keep the field and program great. And continued support from this amazing community to continue the program.”

Josh Woodworth

On March 28, VHS varsity boys volleyball game began at 5:30 p.m. against Dos Pueblos High School in the Tuttle Gym and ended at 6:30 p.m. Photo by: Isabella Fierros

Lourdes Almalab

Fast

Azusa Pacific

Tran

VHS loses a match in three sets

Isabella Fierros

Ava Mohror

Kendall Garcia

Miles Newman

Halle Gentry

Josh Woodworth ‘25 said, “[USA Baseball] was great and amazing. There were many things I learned and got to experience with a new team.” Photo from: @32josh15 on Instagram

VHS on: Go-to drinks

“[My go-to drink is] mint Yerba mate,” said Chloe Cross ‘24. Photo by: Kinda Mehael

“[My go-to drink is] Arnold Palmer Arizona Iced Tea,” said Alexis Orta ‘24. Photo by: Kinda Mehael

“[My go-to drink is] Monster [Energy],” said Clarissa Duran ‘25. Photo by: Leslie Castro

“[My go-to drink is] cream soda,” said Keegan Ostic ‘24. Photo by: Kinda Mehael

“[My go-to drink is] a pink drink with sweet vanilla cold foam with light ice,” said Analy Martin ‘25. Photo by: Leslie Castro

“[My go-to drink is] mint Yerba mate tea,” said Eva Stamp ‘25. Photo by: Leslie Castro

“[My go-to drink is] a Arizona Green Tea,” said Lauryn Gishwa ‘26. Photo by: Leslie Castro

“[My go-to drink is] a Mucho Mango Arizona,” said Citlaly Carvanza ‘24. Photo by: Samantha Castañeda

“[My go-to drink is] probably a Sprite,” said David Reyes ‘24. Photo by: Leslie Castro