The Quill
The Pleasanton High School Newspaper
The Quill
Michelle Yanez- Editor
Chelsea Bosquez- Reporter
Marissa Hernandez- Reporter
Heaven Marquez- Reporter
Katie Medina- Reporter
Teana Navarro- Reporter/ photo editor
Alexandra Rich- Reporter
Frank Rodriguez- Reporter
Elena Salinas- Reporter
Sydney Sykes- Reporter
Franchisca Amor- Advice Columnist
Britney Straub- Adviser
Location: Room 212 PHS
Twitter: @TheQuillPHS
Homecoming Pride By Heaven Marquez
PHS’ homecoming is a pride filled week revolving around school spirit and football. The whole school was anticipating two things! The announcement of Homecoming King and Queen and the big football game against La Vernia. With so many people running, everyone was ready to find out this year’s royalty.
Well, look no further, because the answer is right here! 2017’s Homecoming King and Queen are……. Jorge Lucero and Rachel Black!
All of the Homecoming Court looked stunning at the football game on Friday, October 27th. The Freshman representatives were Natalie Contreras and Blake Moos with Heaven Marquez and Zachary Zamora. The Sophomore class had Callie Jones standing with Nathaniel Acevedo and Lauren Dowdy with Nathan Bosquez. The Junior representatives included Laken Mcada and Fisher Underbrink and Sydney Sykes standing with John Zamora. Then came the Senior class with Rachel Black and Jorge Lucero, Bailey Lopez and Gabriel Anguiana, Ayanna Oltivero and Epifanio Gonzales, Angelina Molina and Kaleb Parks and finally, Sarah Baker and Carlos Cervantes. That’s when the game began.
Our boys fought a hard battle against the La Vernia Bears. The Bears were also undefeated before they played against Pleasanton.
The La Vernia football team was a huge opponent for Pleasanton. Last year, La Vernia destroyed our undefeated streak. Somerset then beat Pleasanton and dashed any chances of us making it into the Playoffs.
However, this year, the motto “finish” has had an impact on these boys and how they play. No matter what, they weren’t going to give up.
Pleasanton had to push hard to catch up to La Vernia after they made the first touchdown of the night. At halftime, the score was 9-10, with Pleasanton losing by one point!
After halftime, La Vernia gained another touchdown to make the score 9-17. That’s when Pleasanton had to push through and make the score closer.
With hard work, the boys pushed the score 15-17 with 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter. That’s when Victor Gutierez, the team’s kicker made a field goal, turning the score to 18-17, with Pleasanton on top.
The buzzer rang out and the Pleasanton Eagles were deemed victorious.
ASK FRANCHISCA
Dear Franchisca,
How do I make my crush like me? I’ve tried everything!
Sincerely,
Desperate
Dear Desperate,
I have to say, there is a quote I’d like to share and it goes, “There is a time and place for everything and everyone don’t force what’s not yet supposed to fit into your life.” What I think is that love can’t be forced and if you try to make your crush like you, you’ll come off as clingy or weird. However you can try to show them you are interested with just a few steps.
The first step is to make eye contact, eye contact shows you are not only listening to a conversation but you are interested in the conversation
Secondly, flirt, but not too much flirting in a way that makes it seem like you like them but make them wonder if you actually do
Next, make yourself unattainable, the same concept as playing hard to get except by making yourself unattainable you make yourself a “prize” instead of a choice
Finally, be yourself if you like someone but they don’t like you for you they are not worth it. Love is not only a wonderful thing, but it’s also something that makes people blind. Love can make people do things they never would’ve done. So don’t throw yourself at someone who won’t appreciate you for you.
Sincerely,
Franchisca
To ask Franchisca a question, email her at askfranchisca@gmail.com
The Principal's Daughter by Madeleine Guajardo
Column 1
Benefits
There are many rumored benefits about being the principal’s daughter. Some of which are true and some are not. They range from grades to family things. The benefits that are not true get spread around like any other rumor. Because of course, the best stories are the ones that are completely made up.
Let’s start off with a true one. Yes, I do visit with my mom during the school day. Some days I run into her multiple times and sometimes I don’t see her at all. During these visits, I usually only talk to her for a minute, unless I see her during lunch. We talk about what we are doing after school or what has happened during the day. But, she definitely does not get me out of class just to visit.
Next, is if she changes my grades in the grade book. My mother has never changed my grades and she will never change them. This is one of the worst rumoured benefits. Changing grades affects so many people and my future. It makes me very disappointed that some people believe that it’s true. I earn the grades that I have by coming to school everyday to learn, and putting my effort into learning.
A great but small benefit is the candy jar in the front office. I won’t tell you exactly where it is, but it’s filled with great candy. I usually stop by there in the morning and get some for after school. If you’re one of my best friends, you know where it is, and you benefit from it, too.
Another myth benefit is that I don’t get in trouble. If I did do something that would have to be dealt with a consequence, not only would I get punished at school, but also at home. But luckily I am not that kind of student. I would never do something that is against the rules or put a student in danger.
Although being able to fire someone or send someone to ISS seems great, I cannot. My mother does has the ability to fire someone, but thankfully PHS is great at hiring people, which means no one needs to be fired. There have been many times where I would like to get a student in trouble for no reason, but I can’t. I guess I could tell a lie and everybody would believe me, but I wouldn’t want to do that to someone. Anyways, administrators don’t just throw a student into ISS; they have to get the full story first.
This next benefit, I really can’t tell if it’s true or not. I think it is for some students but not others. The benefit is that kids are scared to mess with me because I’m the principal's daughter. Maybe they won’t do anything too serious, but I think being the principal's daughter actually makes it worse. Once students learn that I am the principalś daughter then kids have many questions to ask, comments to make, and jokes to make. I really don’t get upset or hurt, it just gets annoying sometimes.
The most benefiting benefit out of all of them is the experiences. Since my mom works with educators, I get the best information and we craft everything I do to perfection. From what classes I take to what happens after high school. With everyone’s own high school experiences and their children's experiences, they are able to help my mom and I make the best decisions for me.
I think all the true benefits are fair. My mom got the job of being the principal and should be able to use her information and resources to help her children excel. It would be the same if your parent, or anyone in your family, worked at a store. You would be able to get discounts for whatever they’re selling. The same goes for children of doctors, hair stylists, and more. Our parents earned their jobs and have the right to share the benefits with their children.
Featured Artist: Lowk3y Ray by Elena Salinas
Pleasanton High School student, Matthew Esparza is a youtuber trying to get known. Matthew has struggled since he first started, but with the support from family and friends he’s pushed himself each and every day.
Inspired by Ricky Coronado and Jack Martinez, Matthew started his first channel. “It all started when Ricky asked if I wanted to join a group.” Matthew states. “ He later on told me to start a channel.”
Matthew raps, post vlogs, and soon to come, gaming. When he first started rapping he performed in front of his family and got pointers. Soon he would start rapping in front of his friends.
Matthew was not always out going like this. “I was shy, embarrassed to talk to girls, embarrassed to make friends, and I held the emotions in.” Esparza said. Esparza then made a stage name to help him with his channel. “ My name is Lowk3y Ray... He is not shy, not embarrassed, not afraid to do the impossible, he is someone you can’t hurt.” Matthew states.
Matthew has worked off and on with his channel because school has started , he manages his work wisely. Esparza is a soloist due to the group going their own way. He still works with Ricky because they have been close from the start of it.
“Ricky is my brother, we had our arguments but it helped our friendship.” Esparza also states “Ricky is brutally honest about my music.”
Through all of this Matthew has evolved and changed. “I’ve made mistakes and would change some of them but it showed me who was real and who was fake.” Esparza said. “ I focus on myself and my surroundings. It will help me in the future.”
Matthew hopes to be noticed. “In the future I will have enough money for concerts, my own charity, and of course family is first.” Esparza has a goal that will soon be a reality thanks to his supporters, friends, and family.
Hand Dryers Vs. Paper Towels By: Michelle Yanez
The debate between whether hand dryers or paper towels are better has been around for quite a while. Like every situation there are two sides to this discussion. In this dispute I’ll take a deeper look into which of these hand drying solutions is better for our environment and budgets.
When you walk into a public restroom there is a more likely chance that you will be using a hand dryer instead of paper towels. Why? Studies have shown that hand dryers are cheaper to have than paper towels. Hand dryers cost approximately .18 cents per day in electricity and paper towels cost about 1 cent per sheet. Imagine the entire cost of that.
“Hand dryers are better for the environment,” Junior, Matthew Rocha stated. Rocha later said that, “[they] are cleaner, because no one touches them.” That may be semi true but what about the germs they are spreading. I can assure that hand dryers don’t get cleaned as often as they should be. Hand Dryers spread 1,300 more germs than paper towels do.
Paper towels aren’t as great as some people might think. It cost more to make and transport them than it does to use a hand dryer. When asked why they don’t like paper towels Christian Douglas said, “ It creates a lot of trash…”hand dryers are more efficient because, “ It’s less trash for custodians to pick up in the restroom.”
The amount of pros and cons between these two can go on for awhile. The aftermath of what hand dryers and paper towels bring is controversial to what you’re looking at. Looking at the environmental effects, both contribute to it badly. Paper towels are polluting the earth and in order to have paper towels we need trees to cut down. Hand dryers use electricity. When you look at the pros and cons of whether these have lot’s of germs hand dryers win, but with what facts. An article written by the Wall Street Journal states that, “From a hygiene viewpoint, paper towels are superior to electric air dryers.” The friction that paper towels have on them is good for removing germs on your hands. It may be “painful” to some, but it’s what takes the germs off.
Hand dryers are a waste of money. They don’t do the job that they were designed to do in the first place. Instead of drying your hands, they are just contaminating them right after you got done washing them. With over 12 million hand dryers in the world it’s a germ explosion. We have recycled paper towels that could be used. To say that I’m overreacting, is an overstatement, because I’m stating the facts. If we got rid of hand dryers and replaced them with recycled paper towels, we could benefit from it by a lot.
Rockin Rockadillys by Marissa Hernanez
“HI! Welcome to Rockadillys”, is the first thing you’ll be greeted with when you walk into this newly founded local business. The family run establishment hosts a teen night every saturday for $5 from 7-11 pm, keeping the kids entertained with a movie showing , multiple pool tables, a basketball shooting arcade game, darts, board games, ping pong, air hockey and foosball tables.
“We, Rockadillys, target the teenage group because we’re in a small town. There isn’t many places where the teenagers can hang out with their friends, stay entertained in a place where parents feel safe letting their kids spend hours at. The goal of Rockadillys is to create a friendly, fun, safe environment for the young adults”, Says the co-owner Marcey Reyes who’s in charge of management and income accounting . Marcey runs the business alongside her husband, Louie Reyes, who created the idea of Rockadillys itself. Louie also does all the repairs, renovations and ad creating for the business. The married couple also employees their high- school attending, teenage son, Marcel Hernandez and daughter, Marissa Hernandez to help run the business. “They’ve helped out a whole lot”, Marcey exclaims. “It’s helpful to see things through a younger eye, we look for games and activities that all kids would enjoy and it helps that both of my kids are completely different from each other. They’re real big when it comes to advertising it on school or their social media pages. I’m not a horror fan at all but we decided to show scary movies to set the tone for the month of october , so my son Marcel , who loves those , decides the movie. It’s just little stuff like that, that as teens they would know what they’re surrounding age group likes.”
Marcey and Louie started up Rockadillys early February. However, it didn’t start out with just all fun and games. The couple took their little snow cone shack located in Leming and transitioned it to a big building we now know as Rockadillys. “The first start of Rockadillys wasn't as successful as we had hoped it to be. We took a break for a while, we thought about how to reinvent us to as a business and how to appeal to the public more. After a lot of consideration, it always came back to how the teenagers in this town don’t have a hangout like how my generation did growing up; which created the new Rockadillys. The game room itself has always been an idea in my head. I owe a lot to my father, Marconi Reyes for selling the building to us and I also owe a lot to a dear friend of mine, Larry Nicholson. We’d been collecting machines in a storage for years together and then Rockadillys happened and the idea finally turned into a reality”, says Louie Reyes.
“It’s not a normal 9-5 , the business comes home with us. Whether it’s discussing new games at the dinner table, spending long hours with the family getting ready to host the teen nights or just the routine cleaning. It’s a huge part of our lives, I think it’s even brought us closer together as a family. We’re all hoping to rub off on the community, for people to be familiar with us, for us to become a casual saturday spot,” says Macey Reyes. As for the future of Rockadillys,there has been discussions about holiday themed movie showings, accepting movie request and new arcade games. In the meantime, if you’re interested to see what’s so rockin about rockadillys swing by a weekly teen night , Saturdays from 8-12pm.
Senior Section by Teana Navarro
Dylan Pena, BRAVO company commander
“Honestly, four years in High School there’s nothing to be excited about,” Dylan says. He thinks everything is about the friends you make and the ones you keep throughout High School. Dylan has a future goal of enlisting in the Army, mainly the Army reserves, for mechanical engineering. After the Army, Pena plans to enroll at Saint Mary’s University. “Don’t go for Freshman they’re too easy,” Dylan jokes.
On a more serious note his advice for lower classmen is, “Don’t expect to keep your friends from freshman year. Everything has a reason to happen.” He has his whole future planned out and we look forward to seeing how successful he is in the future.
-- Remember when: “Me, William Wells, Teana Navarro, and few other people tried to make an actual human pyramid. Stacking 4 or 5 people on top of each other like giving one piggy back ride. Having Teana at the top. Taking a picture and we all fell to the ground. Luckily no one was hurt but I’ll never forget that day.”
Sarah Hanzalik, Varsity Volleyball Manager
“My High School experience was really good honestly,” Sarah thought that it was just going to be really scary, luckily she was proven wrong. Throughout high school Sarah made new friends and lost old ones. “Making bad choices is apart of High School,” reflects Sarah. She states that even though she made mistakes, she also learned from them. She has her mind set to go into nursing and will do a bridge program leading her to Texas State University.
-- Remember when: “During Freshman year, we were working out at the field jumping over hurdles backwards. I accidentally tripped and fell while my pants got caught on the hurdle, so I had to sit on the metal part and that broke in half. Getting my leg caught. I now have a gigantic scar that goes from my thigh to my knee. Everyone just laughed and the only thing my coach said was, “oh ok”. But before that the first time I had jumped and fell on my face and broke my glasses. Peopled called me ‘Hurdle Face”. I really have bad luck with hurdles, that's why I don’t run or do anything athletic. That's why I’m the manager”.
Teal Pumpkin Project By Alexandra Rich
Halloween is a time for people to go door to door receiving candy while dressed up as their favorite characters or scariest creatures. Why should anyone be exempted from this great day just because of allergies?
Courtney Singer, The Manager of the Pleasanton Movie Theater, comments, “Children who have food allergies or children who can’t have candy commonly get overlooked on Halloween.”
The Teal Pumpkin Project was made to prevent this from happening. This project is a group of businesses and households all marked with a teal pumpkin that sits outside. This teal pumpkin symbolizes that children with allergies are able to trick or treat there and get non-edible items such as; erasers, pencils, stickers, and other small toys.
This Project started in 2014. It was made after a Tennessee mother, Becky Basalone, discovered her youngest son was diagnosed with multiple food allergies in 2012. Even though her son was supposedly cured in 2014, at the age of seven, she wanted to do something for the forgotten children on Halloween. Soon after, this idea moved throughout the United States.
Even though this project was meant to bring joy to the children who are searching for these teal pumpkins, Courtney Singer says, “I would advise to anyone who was interested to definitely look into it...When I was handing out the little toys and stickers, the families were so grateful for the opportunity for their children to be included on Halloween and, for me, that makes it worth it.”
Lady Eagles Make it to Playoffs By Sydney Sykes
The Lady Eagles volleyball team won their bi-district game earning their spot in the playoffs. The Pleasanton Eagles played at South West Legacy against the Pearsall Mavericks on Monday, October 30th.
Our Lady Eagles lead the whole first set, ending it with 25-10. They played a hard second set. They struggled a bit, but ended up getting another win with a score of 25-16.
The third and final set of the night was a big one. The Eagles were fired up and ready to get their win. They played fast and strong.
The ending score, that lead them to the playoffs, was 25-14. The Lady Eagles won the bi-district title, and are ready for the playoffs.
Hot dog! By Sydney Sykes
Opinion On Homecoming Mums By Chelsea Bosquez
Homecoming mums are a big deal in Texas. I had the opportunity to ask Dawn the Mum Lady some questions because she makes almost everyone’s Homecoming Mum in Pleasanton Texas. If you ask someone outside of Texas, they think we spend too much money on our mums. Ms. Dawn, however, said she “personally doesn’t think $400 is bad for a senior mum like the ones in Pleasanton”.
If you Look at the market, the average cost of a Senior mum is $600. That will not include any lights, music, photo boxes, speciality cut name letters, speciality cut homecoming letters, or feathers. The $600 is the cost of the bows, braids, and flowers. Typically that $600 will cover eight trinkets that say something about being a senior. She includes those eight and many more. Plus, all the electronics and batteries are included. “My girls make lots of requests for special items, like things that represent family members or their future college choices......I include all of that with no extra charge… When someone really thinks about that, $375 (400 with tax) isn't a bad deal,” Ms. Dawn stated.
Dawn asked me if I really know the true meaning of what a mum is. A Chrysanthemum is just a flower. It was used as a corsage flower in the fall because it blooms in the fall and was cheap. The ribbons and trinkets aren't part of the mum. Lots of girls don't know that. We just have really big CORSAGES!
So, are mums just a Texas thing? Ms Dawn said “in the 50's mums began to get bigger. Texas moms started personalizing the corsage that their son’s date were going to wear. Ribbons got longer. Things got bigger. The concept of homecoming mums is spreading. Schools in Ohio, California, Colorado, Louisiana and Florida are catching wind of it and love it. The tradition is spreading. I think this is because of social media. Before, no one saw them so they never really left Texas.”
“[Dawn] started making mums because I was in school and I received a mum.I was devastated that my mum looked exactly like everyone else's. I felt so different from all of them and yet my corsage seemed to match all of them exactly......that made me sad. So, I made mine myself. Others loved it....so they asked me to [personalize thiers] . After I graduated, my friends in HS came to me again and said "please make ours"......it's just never stopped.” The town of Pleasanton is so glad she did, because we keep very busy every year, starting in June.
These mums take a lot of time. Ms. Dawn says, “if i've already ordered all the product, shopped for all the items that will make it special, downloaded music and I have all the items available..... it takes about 40 hours. That’s starting from scratch, with no assistance. With two very good helpers and each of us having an assistant - I've been able to do a senior mum in about 6 hours, but that’s with six people working on the same mum, it still comes up to about 36-38 man hours.”
In my opinion, even though mums take a long time to make I still think they're apart of senior tradition. It’s a part of senior tradition and it’s the last thing to remember before they are out in the real world.
Behind The Scenes By Marissa Hernandez
One of the faces behind the Big E News. One of the voices behind the morning's announcements. Alarik Myrin has definitely made his voice and presence known around Pleasanton High School. Alarik began his anchoring position last year when the Big E News first started.
“I guess you could say I always did it”, Myrin said, following with the fact that the news started last year so he really has been here since the beginning.
“Well, it all started when Mrs Breiten was like, ‘Does anybody wanna talk’ and no one wanted to at all, they were like, ‘Oh I'll just edit’, so I went and you know, ‘Put me on camera, watch out?’ So then I was like, dang I’m really good so I asked Mrs. Guajardo if my friend Ricky and I could start doing the morning announcements. We’re the best this schools ever seen”.
Alarik, being a senior this year has high hopes for the future of the big E News , “My hope is that it’s even better than it is now. I’m just hoping some kid comes in and he’s like really good. I just wanna be able to go on our youtube channel and be like wow they didn’t even need me.”
As for whoever that student is, they certainly have some big shoes to fill.
BMX Against Bullying By: Frankie Rodriguez
Bullying, everyone has heard that it’s bad. Everyone knows that you shouldn’t do it. When teens hear that they have to attend an anti-bullying event everyone seems sceptical.
Knowing this Micah Kranz, who is apart of the ASA Entertainment group, put an entertaining spin on the subject, BMX. While everyone is hooked on the extreme stunts done by the professionals, Micah shares some facts about bullying to inform the crowd
“You can’t just one on one talk to kids because they know it all, they’ve heard it all. You have to get on their level,” said Micah. Micah has been doing this for 4 years and this tour only has 4 more weeks.
These professionals, Alex Landeros, Mykel Larkin,Koji Kraft,Dane Beardsley, and Micah Kranz are amazing to risk their lives to raise awareness about bullying,and I really hope they continue to do what they love so that more and more people stop bullying and less and less people get bullied.
Pep Rally Viewpoints By: Katie Medina
We’ve heard some good and bad things about our high school pep rallies. Some students love our outgoing pep rallies and some dislike them. “What gets you hyped up about our school pep rallies?” and “What do you dislike about our school pep rallies that you would change?” These are two questions that I asked some students at the pep rally.
Freshmen-
Freddy Garcia: “I like that we don’t have to do work. I would want to change the seats where we could sit wherever we want.”
Cole Wiechring: “I like how hyped everybody is at the pep rallies. I would want more people to get involved!”
Luke Harlos: “ The band man music maannnn! It vibes me up”
Sophomores-
Nathan Bosquez: “ [I like] That everyone is loud. I like it, so I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Dalton Hobbs: “ I like the class spirit to see who’s the loudest. [I don’t like] how everyone doesn’t participate.”
Luis Arguijo: “The hypeness that the band brings us. We don’t have that much mojo. I wouldn’t have so many rules like they have now.”
Juniors-
Aaron Perez: “Coach Schwab for sure he is the hype man that gets everyone pumped up and they need more of me out on the court, maybe even take my shirt off! I like the way it is.”
Bella Ortiz: “The football boys hype me up. [The pep rallies] are boring, they need to think outside of the box.”
Avery Falcon: “That they are spirited. [The pep rallies] are fine the way they are.”
Seniors-
Sara Randolph: “I like the cheerleaders and the pacesetters! And I don’t like that Coach Schwab says pride pride too much.”
First Ever Eagle Battalion Dining-In By: Lexi Rich
The ROTC Eagle Battalion has been a part of Pleasanton High School for almost seven years. This program has hosted many semi-formal events, such as the annual military ball. This year the ROTC Battalion hosted a dining-in. A dining-in is a members only gathering that is meant to be a team exercise or group bonding.
Cadet First Lieutenant Alexandra Rich states, “ I wasn’t expecting to have so much fun at this event, but I am truly happy that I had the opportunity to attend.”
This event took a couple months of planning by the hard working staff members and teachers of the ROTC program.
First Lieutenant Kyle Spires says, “ This event was definitely an experience of a lifetime.”
He describes the event as fun and educational. He states that he would definitely enjoy attending another one.
“The location was perfect.” Alexandra Rich continues “ Even though I will be graduating this year I hope that someone will invite me to the next dinning-in. I really want to attend another one.”
In other words this event seemed to be a success with only a few complications. However, they say that they are already thinking of how they are going to better plan the dining-in for next year.