Your 2009/2010 Raiders Digest staff:
Editor in chief: Martin Zazueta
Technical Editor: Robert Garcia
Staff Writers:
Dwayne Codding
Elma Gonzales
Omar Arce
Not pictured:
Jasmine Straw (staff writer)
Bob Chan (staff writer)
Mr. Isaacs (adviser)
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Survey: Welcome Back to School
Survey question: How do you feel about coming back to school early?
By Martin Zazueta
Angel Lopez: "I feel like we got cheated, because we were traditional and we should have gotten a break for the traditional school year."
Ms. Vargas: "Love it! I worked in a year round school before so I'm used to it (plus I get more time to prepare my AP students)."
Ms. Brittain: "I don't like it, because in the summer I like to pretend that I don't work, and it's also very HOT!"
Mr. Jeffries: "I like it, especially because of all the new breaks."
Jason Codding: "It's
horrible. I want to kick back more."
Anonymous: "Great [sarcastically], I personally think that it won't help..."
David Gomez: "It's sad because there's less summer, but good because I get to see my friends more often."
Deaurcy Williams: "It's OK - doesn't really make a difference to me."
By Martin Zazueta
Angel Lopez: "I feel like we got cheated, because we were traditional and we should have gotten a break for the traditional school year."
Ms. Vargas: "Love it! I worked in a year round school before so I'm used to it (plus I get more time to prepare my AP students)."
Ms. Brittain: "I don't like it, because in the summer I like to pretend that I don't work, and it's also very HOT!"
Mr. Jeffries: "I like it, especially because of all the new breaks."
Jason Codding: "It's
horrible. I want to kick back more."Anonymous: "Great [sarcastically], I personally think that it won't help..."
David Gomez: "It's sad because there's less summer, but good because I get to see my friends more often."
Deaurcy Williams: "It's OK - doesn't really make a difference to me."
Class Officers
Raiders run for class office
By Bob Chan
As high school progresses, students partake in extracurricular activities in order to capture all the experiences that high school has to offer. Among these activities are sports, music, AP classes, clubs, and the student government. Student government is an excellent extracurricular activity, which teaches students to be model students and be responsible not only for themselves, but for the school. For high school seniors, participating in student government is highly commended by colleges.
Students can choose to serve in positions such as class president, class vice president, class secretary and class treasurer in their respected grade. The duties of a president involve organizing ideas for events and working with students as well as controlling affairs in organizations. In addition, the president must lead and facilitate meetings among the staff. The senior class president is also in charge of arranging the 10th year anniv-
ersary for alumni. The vice president takes over if the president dies, okay, maybe not in high school, but if called to, they assume the responsibilities of the president. The treasurer’s duties are to manage the money earned from events and to deposit money. Secretaries usually maintain the paperwork.
All in all, becoming part of student government leads to a positive attitude in school and a love for your school, the Southwest Raiders.
SOH male cheerleader tells all...
Hey Raiders!!! Yea!!!
By Omar Arce
At SOH we think of cheerleaders as loud spontaneous girls who get the crowd excited during pep assemblies and football games. But what about loud spontaneous boys? As many of you know, Soh has a male cheerleader: his name is Enrique Galindo, a senior. Galindo started cheer last school year, but this year could be the year for him to leave his mark in SOH cheer history. Raiders Digest had the opportunity to interview Enrique Galindo about his experience as a cheerleader.
Raiders Digest: Did you ever play sports?
Enrique Galindo: No, I did not play any sports. I don't know why.
RD: Why did you decide to become a cheerleader?
EG: I always stayed after school. So I watched the cheerleaders practice, and I became interested. I also joined cheer to prove that it is not only for girls.
RD: What does your family think about it?
EG: I have their full support.
RD: Have you ever receive any negative comments for being in cheer?
EG: Not that I know. And if they say anything, then I don't care.
RD: If you the chance, would you change from cheer leading to play a varsity sport?
EG: I would try to be in a sport and cheer, but would not quit cheer.
RD:How was your first practice?
EG: I remember that it was fun. It was not very difficult because I am fast learner.
RD: How did the girls treat you?
EG: At first the girls were very excited because they had a guy in the team. They were very nice to me. And we got along easily,
RD: How was your first game?
EG: I was really nervous. It was the first game and I had to cheer in front of everyone, something I had never done before.
RD: Now that you have experience, how do you feel before the games?
EG: I feel confident, not nervous at all. I'm used to cheering in front of crowds now. I feel relaxed and excited before the games.
RD: What is the most difficult thing about cheer leading? And the easiest thing?
EG: The most difficult thing about cheer is the running and the sit ups, the rest is relatively easy.
RD: What skills do you need to be a cheerleader
EG: To be a cheerleader you need flexibility, strength, and most importantly school spirit.
RD: What advice would you give to any boys interested in cheerleading?
EG: Join. Do not be afraid of what other people say. Just go for it.
As the first home football game approaches, Galindo prepares to give it all to support the Raiders. Be sure to attend the games and support the cheer squad, and do not be afraid of asking Enrique Galindo how he feels.
By Omar Arce
At SOH we think of cheerleaders as loud spontaneous girls who get the crowd excited during pep assemblies and football games. But what about loud spontaneous boys? As many of you know, Soh has a male cheerleader: his name is Enrique Galindo, a senior. Galindo started cheer last school year, but this year could be the year for him to leave his mark in SOH cheer history. Raiders Digest had the opportunity to interview Enrique Galindo about his experience as a cheerleader.
Raiders Digest: Did you ever play sports?
Enrique Galindo: No, I did not play any sports. I don't know why.
RD: Why did you decide to become a cheerleader?
EG: I always stayed after school. So I watched the cheerleaders practice, and I became interested. I also joined cheer to prove that it is not only for girls.RD: What does your family think about it?
EG: I have their full support.
RD: Have you ever receive any negative comments for being in cheer?
EG: Not that I know. And if they say anything, then I don't care.
RD: If you the chance, would you change from cheer leading to play a varsity sport?
EG: I would try to be in a sport and cheer, but would not quit cheer.
RD:How was your first practice?
EG: I remember that it was fun. It was not very difficult because I am fast learner.
RD: How did the girls treat you?
EG: At first the girls were very excited because they had a guy in the team. They were very nice to me. And we got along easily,
RD: How was your first game?
EG: I was really nervous. It was the first game and I had to cheer in front of everyone, something I had never done before.
RD: Now that you have experience, how do you feel before the games?
EG: I feel confident, not nervous at all. I'm used to cheering in front of crowds now. I feel relaxed and excited before the games.
RD: What is the most difficult thing about cheer leading? And the easiest thing?
EG: The most difficult thing about cheer is the running and the sit ups, the rest is relatively easy.
RD: What skills do you need to be a cheerleader
EG: To be a cheerleader you need flexibility, strength, and most importantly school spirit.
RD: What advice would you give to any boys interested in cheerleading?
EG: Join. Do not be afraid of what other people say. Just go for it.
As the first home football game approaches, Galindo prepares to give it all to support the Raiders. Be sure to attend the games and support the cheer squad, and do not be afraid of asking Enrique Galindo how he feels.
GO-O-O-OL!!! DE MEXICO!!!
Tricolor triumphs over Stars and Stripes
By Martin Zazueta
August 12, 2009, the aftermath of el partido was wild and crazy, the celebrations would make one reminisce about a spring break party in Mexico, but actually it was the loyal, ecstatic fans of the Mexican team. The streets were filled with fans cheering and chanting songs like "Cielito Lindo".
Most of you, while texting a friend to tell you the score or if a teacher actually had the game playing in the room, waited eagerly to know the result of Wednesday's football showdown in Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, between the United States and Mexico. It was, of course, 2-1 Mexico- a victory that echoed last month's victory over the U.S. in New Jersey, an epic game that resulted in a 5-0 shutout for Mexico, who had earned the Gold Cup after the victory.
But what does this win mean for Mexico? There is actually no immediate gain from defeating the U.S. because the U.S. is still in 3rd place of the Round 4 preliminaries with 10 points, while Mexico is trailing in 4th place with 9 points. What this does do is increase the morale and keep the spirit of competition going as there are still several games left in the preliminaries.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Teachers of the Sweetwater Union High School District still have no contract.
SEA, district fail to reach agreement
By Elma Gonzalez
With the old contract having expired on June 30, 2008, the Sweetwater Educators' Association (SEA)began to engage in negotiations
with the district to settle on a new contract. However, as the bargaining process began, both the teacher's union and the district realized they had very different convictions regarding the new contract. According to SEA, the district did not appear to be bargaining in "good faith" and did not "take the process seriously"; they claimed the district embarked in "regressive bargaining" meaning the district’s proposals became less favorable as bargaining progressed, forcing the union to file a protest against unfair labor practices. The district responded by filing a countersuit against SEA for stalling the process, which has so far taken more than a year.
Among the several issues prolonging the process are the elimination of Montgomery High's 4x4 schedule, the proposed two-tier retirement system, and the establishment of a fair staffing ratio. As most of us know, Montgomery High was, until this year, the only high school in our district to have the 4x4 schedule or quarter schedule -which divided each day between 4 periods. When the decision was made by the district to impose a new schedule on Montgomery, SEA claimed the teacher's rights were violated. It was not the fact that they no longer enjoyed the advantages of the old schedule, but that the union was not consulted when the change was made. The district tells a different story. They assert the union was consulted, and that the only problem was that the change in schedule was not able to go through the whole 'formal process' because the MOH school year was rapidly arriving and the master schedule had to be made. As for the reason behind this change, the district claims it was made as an attempt to improve the students' scores and eliminate the school's PI status. Although this issue does not affect SOH directly, there are others like the 'staffing ratio' that hit closer to home.
According to the old contract, there should be a student/teacher ratio of 28:1; but how many times have we entered classrooms in which there are more than 40 students. Just two weeks ago, an AP Econ class consisted of more than forty five students, almost double the limited amount. Although, some decided to switch to some other class, an excessive number still remains. Now, you may wonder, how come the old contract is being used to limit the number of students per teacher? Well, the rules of collective bargaining state that the “old” contract must be enforced until the two teams come to an agreement. When the district was questioned about this their answer was that there were actually two ratios: the 28:1 ratio and the 176:1 ratio, which represents a full school day. In other words, the only restriction is having a limit of 176 students per day.
Another iss
ue that stands above the rest is the implementation of the two-tier retirement system, a system that denies retirement benefits to new members of the district. Many teachers believe that this is unjust for new teachers. Although it may not seem to affect the students directly, if SUHSD does not offer the same incentives as other districts in San Diego; it would put SUHSD at a huge disadvantage when attracting new teachers. For the students, this would mean fewer teachers would be available to 'teach' at our district in future years.
Representatives of theSweetwater Union High School District state that they believe the main reason they haven't come to an agreement with the union is simply a difference in opinions. One example they gave deals with the teachers' salary; while teachers demand a raise to survive in the current recession, the district is undergoing a fiscal crisis that prevents them from doing so.
When entering the District website, one of the first news articles that appears is that of the district reaching an agreement with Sweetwater Employee Unions on new contracts. However, the agreement was reached with unions representing counselors, clerical workers, paraprofessionals and operations support, not teachers. Our teachers continue to press for a fair contract. When asked about a possible strike, a Union representative assured the Union was, "most unlikely to have such a drastic response," the top priority for the SUHSD teachers is of course " the students' education."
Hopefully, our district and teachers will compromise at the next board meeting on August 17, 2010.
By Elma Gonzalez
With the old contract having expired on June 30, 2008, the Sweetwater Educators' Association (SEA)began to engage in negotiations
with the district to settle on a new contract. However, as the bargaining process began, both the teacher's union and the district realized they had very different convictions regarding the new contract. According to SEA, the district did not appear to be bargaining in "good faith" and did not "take the process seriously"; they claimed the district embarked in "regressive bargaining" meaning the district’s proposals became less favorable as bargaining progressed, forcing the union to file a protest against unfair labor practices. The district responded by filing a countersuit against SEA for stalling the process, which has so far taken more than a year.Among the several issues prolonging the process are the elimination of Montgomery High's 4x4 schedule, the proposed two-tier retirement system, and the establishment of a fair staffing ratio. As most of us know, Montgomery High was, until this year, the only high school in our district to have the 4x4 schedule or quarter schedule -which divided each day between 4 periods. When the decision was made by the district to impose a new schedule on Montgomery, SEA claimed the teacher's rights were violated. It was not the fact that they no longer enjoyed the advantages of the old schedule, but that the union was not consulted when the change was made. The district tells a different story. They assert the union was consulted, and that the only problem was that the change in schedule was not able to go through the whole 'formal process' because the MOH school year was rapidly arriving and the master schedule had to be made. As for the reason behind this change, the district claims it was made as an attempt to improve the students' scores and eliminate the school's PI status. Although this issue does not affect SOH directly, there are others like the 'staffing ratio' that hit closer to home.
According to the old contract, there should be a student/teacher ratio of 28:1; but how many times have we entered classrooms in which there are more than 40 students. Just two weeks ago, an AP Econ class consisted of more than forty five students, almost double the limited amount. Although, some decided to switch to some other class, an excessive number still remains. Now, you may wonder, how come the old contract is being used to limit the number of students per teacher? Well, the rules of collective bargaining state that the “old” contract must be enforced until the two teams come to an agreement. When the district was questioned about this their answer was that there were actually two ratios: the 28:1 ratio and the 176:1 ratio, which represents a full school day. In other words, the only restriction is having a limit of 176 students per day.
Another iss
ue that stands above the rest is the implementation of the two-tier retirement system, a system that denies retirement benefits to new members of the district. Many teachers believe that this is unjust for new teachers. Although it may not seem to affect the students directly, if SUHSD does not offer the same incentives as other districts in San Diego; it would put SUHSD at a huge disadvantage when attracting new teachers. For the students, this would mean fewer teachers would be available to 'teach' at our district in future years. Representatives of theSweetwater Union High School District state that they believe the main reason they haven't come to an agreement with the union is simply a difference in opinions. One example they gave deals with the teachers' salary; while teachers demand a raise to survive in the current recession, the district is undergoing a fiscal crisis that prevents them from doing so.
When entering the District website, one of the first news articles that appears is that of the district reaching an agreement with Sweetwater Employee Unions on new contracts. However, the agreement was reached with unions representing counselors, clerical workers, paraprofessionals and operations support, not teachers. Our teachers continue to press for a fair contract. When asked about a possible strike, a Union representative assured the Union was, "most unlikely to have such a drastic response," the top priority for the SUHSD teachers is of course " the students' education."
Hopefully, our district and teachers will compromise at the next board meeting on August 17, 2010.
Southwest Band is still recruiting new members.
Band needs you!
By Jasmine Straw
Man-oh-man, is band getting going! This week in band the students finally met the rest of their coaches! They have their new color guard coach, their high brass coach, their percussion coach, their low brass coach, and their woodwind coach who are all eager to get to work.
After a quick meeting on the senior lawn, Ms. Clark suggested a fun game. Everyone got chairs and sat in a c
ircle. The person in the middle of the circle had to say "I like everyone in this band, especially those who....." finishing the sentence with something. The ones that do or like whatever the person in the middle said had to scramble to find another seat. Rinse&Repeat. Everyone had a lot of fun with the game and learned a lot about each other like who's played Final Fantasy games or first person shooters, even who liked a member's "ghetto-ness".
Tuesday everyone got to work. Work means WORK! Wind insruments worked on their attention, faces, and marking time. Every little detail counts. Judges can be really picky at times, so working on the basics is the best and only place to start.
All the while, drum line was working on their warm-ups and getting to know their coach.
To fix th
e member's attention stance, the coaches had them go to the stage to see if they could roll their hips out so that the hole you make with the floor and the arch of your back go away. This proved a difficult feat, but after a while everyone got it. They then moved to the wall, the deadly wall, for some much loved wall sits, because those are everyone's favorite, right? To end the day everyone 'high fived' each other and stayed in the band room to get their stuff or just hang out.
On to Thursday!
Thursday proved to be the best day. Practice started at 5:00, so a lot of the members went home to eat or just stayed around school to hang out. Once practice started, it was really fun. It started out a little weird: they were made to do breathing exercises from a video that was made who knows how long ago, but everyone had fun with the silly thing and even danced to the music that was in between sections. After this they got to playing music.
Outside was our wonderful color guard and drum line. Each practices their own things. Color with tosses and attention, which included getting to know each other, and making nicknames for some of the guard members. Drum line started with their warm-ups and how to move with the drums on them.
Once the three groups were done doing their own things, everyone marched out to the football field to do more work. Stretching was an odd activity, having to do stretches that actually stretched them! But people had fun with a little dancing and jerking. After stretching the drummers left the group once again to practice more, leaving the guard and band to their own devices. Marking time, marching and attention.
The drummers joined us again for an interesting and hard activity, marching in a straight line across the width of the football field. Many times they messed up in the beginning, but it for even more frustrating when they made it half way there only to be told to go back. Even though it was hard, it was really helpful and a lot of jokes were made.
To end the day and the week of practice, they ended with a quick game of freeze tag! Who said you couldn't have fun? NO ONE!
Within the three weeks of school, band has quadrupled in size, this includes band, color guard, and drum line. But that doesn't mean we're done!
If you're interested in joining any of the three, stop by the band room at any time throughout the day and talk to Ms. Clark!
"We es muy bueno" - Micheal, the woodwind coach.
By Jasmine Straw
Man-oh-man, is band getting going! This week in band the students finally met the rest of their coaches! They have their new color guard coach, their high brass coach, their percussion coach, their low brass coach, and their woodwind coach who are all eager to get to work.
After a quick meeting on the senior lawn, Ms. Clark suggested a fun game. Everyone got chairs and sat in a c
ircle. The person in the middle of the circle had to say "I like everyone in this band, especially those who....." finishing the sentence with something. The ones that do or like whatever the person in the middle said had to scramble to find another seat. Rinse&Repeat. Everyone had a lot of fun with the game and learned a lot about each other like who's played Final Fantasy games or first person shooters, even who liked a member's "ghetto-ness".Tuesday everyone got to work. Work means WORK! Wind insruments worked on their attention, faces, and marking time. Every little detail counts. Judges can be really picky at times, so working on the basics is the best and only place to start.
All the while, drum line was working on their warm-ups and getting to know their coach.To fix th
e member's attention stance, the coaches had them go to the stage to see if they could roll their hips out so that the hole you make with the floor and the arch of your back go away. This proved a difficult feat, but after a while everyone got it. They then moved to the wall, the deadly wall, for some much loved wall sits, because those are everyone's favorite, right? To end the day everyone 'high fived' each other and stayed in the band room to get their stuff or just hang out.On to Thursday!
Thursday proved to be the best day. Practice started at 5:00, so a lot of the members went home to eat or just stayed around school to hang out. Once practice started, it was really fun. It started out a little weird: they were made to do breathing exercises from a video that was made who knows how long ago, but everyone had fun with the silly thing and even danced to the music that was in between sections. After this they got to playing music.
Outside was our wonderful color guard and drum line. Each practices their own things. Color with tosses and attention, which included getting to know each other, and making nicknames for some of the guard members. Drum line started with their warm-ups and how to move with the drums on them.
Once the three groups were done doing their own things, everyone marched out to the football field to do more work. Stretching was an odd activity, having to do stretches that actually stretched them! But people had fun with a little dancing and jerking. After stretching the drummers left the group once again to practice more, leaving the guard and band to their own devices. Marking time, marching and attention.
The drummers joined us again for an interesting and hard activity, marching in a straight line across the width of the football field. Many times they messed up in the beginning, but it for even more frustrating when they made it half way there only to be told to go back. Even though it was hard, it was really helpful and a lot of jokes were made.
To end the day and the week of practice, they ended with a quick game of freeze tag! Who said you couldn't have fun? NO ONE!
Within the three weeks of school, band has quadrupled in size, this includes band, color guard, and drum line. But that doesn't mean we're done!
If you're interested in joining any of the three, stop by the band room at any time throughout the day and talk to Ms. Clark!
"We es muy bueno" - Micheal, the woodwind coach.
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