Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Haiti's Call for Help

It's Never Too Late to Help
by Omar Arce

It has been almost three weeks since disaster struck Haiti. As days pass, more help arrives to the Caribbean country, but it is not enough. At Southwest High School efforts to aid in the reconstruction of Haiti are shaping up.

There are two ways to help. The first is to donate canned food or clothes. These are being collected at every classroom. The organizers of this drive are Mr. Roncoroni's third period Geography class. This group of Freshmen will collect the donations all week during step

The other way to help trough money donations. Junior Stephanie Meza has tried to organized a collection that will be fruitful enough to create an impact. " The idea came to me when I was watching disturbing clips of the Haiti victims on television, and what was even more disturbing was that no one that I knew was trying to help. It made no sense to me how someone can just be okay with themselves, while someone else in the world is suffering like that," said Meza. Her plan is to "...open an acount for Haiti relief through video tech club, so people can donate money through there. My goal is to collect as much money as possible and send it to the Hope for Haiti Now Foundation..." Donation cans will be provided during the week.

SUHSD Chicanos

MEChA Holds Leadership Conference
by Elma Gonzalez

Last Saturday, the SOH MEChA club hosted the 12th annual "Leadership Conference". The goal of the event was to allow MEChA students from several high schools in the district to bond and share their experiences with other MEChA students, while learning leadership skills.

The day began with a a breakfast of Mexican bread and coffee followed by a welcoming speech given by Mr. Leiva and the two MEChA presidents at SOH. At 10:05am, different workshops were opened to the students. MEChA 101, Time Management, Overcoming High School Obstacles, and ASB 101 were some of the workshops offered at the conference. Delicious Mexican food was offered for lunch, and the Mariachi performed at the event. The most memorable part of the event came towards the end, when Mr. Rodriguez, SOH MEChA adviser, inspired the students continue their education and set high goals for themselves.

Overall, the conference was a success; more than 80 students participated. In the end, Ms. Flores' and the MEChA students' hard work to organize the event paid off
.

Night at the Cafe

Spaghetti Night a Success
by Bob Chan

This past Friday the 29th Southwest high school hosted a spaghetti night to which students and their families came to eat and have fun. It started at 5:30pm with great entertainment provided by the Band, Mariachi, Folklorico, and Sayaw. Around fifty people attended the event that was held in the cafeteria, and Mrs. Armstrong presented a power point that ranged from the school test scores to getting the parents more involved. Finally after the presentation and delicious spaghetti the event had ended at 7:00pm with a standing ovation.

Banner battles

Raiders B-Ball Upsets Cougars
by Marlo Villanueva

Last week the SOH Men's Varsity Basketball team did an outstanding performance against the San Ysidro Cougars and the Olympian Eagles. This was an important week for the Raiders because it led them to climb up to first place, tied with the Olympian Eagles. It was also two great wins against the leading teams of the South Bay League.


The Raiders gave the San Ysidro Cougars a challenge for the banner as they were neck and neck the entire game. The one advantage the Raiders played was the 6'2 Junior, Lamar Weston as he has a height advantage over the defender by 4 inches. He took over the paint on fastbreaks as Maris Boldridge passes him the ball from the half court line


In the last 35 seconds of the game, Captain Jay Santos shoots a 3 to break the tie and take the lead by 3. The Raider defense closed the game with outstanding pressure from Alex Villegas. The Raiders took the ball back as Aspher Morris and Alex Villegas got fouled and shot from the free throw line to close the game. The final score was 59-54.


Congratulations to the Raiders for their victory. They are on the run for the banner so come out to support your Men's Varsity Basketball team when thy play on Wednesday and Friday nights !