"Walk for the Future"
By: Jasmine Li
September 9th, 2014
In an effort to increase graduation rates, Hanna High school is hosting the “Walk for the future” door-to-door campaign on September 20. It will be a collaborative effort in which the principal, assistant principals, Dean of Instruction, testing coordinators, at-risk team, teachers, and other community members will come together to help out. They will be traveling from house to house looking for school dropouts who never showed up at school or who never registered at all and offering them assistance. Students who have been missing since August 27, 2013 to August 25, 2014 will be tracked using their last address recorded in their school files.
The “Walk for the future” campaign has been active for over five years now but this is the first year in which each high school is responsible for hosting its own campaign. Not only that, but middle schools such as Oliveira MS and Vela MS will also join in and try to get former students back. The school representatives will talk to the former students about what the school has to offer, such as career programs and organizations, and they will survey them to find out what the school can do to help them. The students will also be given a calendar of testing dates, since many are still missing their college admission test scores, and tutorial schedules to help them prepare for the TAKS and EOC.
The goal is to assist the students in as much as possible and convince them to come back and continue their education. The school will be advertising this campaign on the newspaper to encourage others to help out. Ms. Laura Sierra is coordinating the event and said that any interested volunteers, including parents, teachers, custodians, counselors, and other staff members, are welcomed at 8 am at the Hanna Cafeteria.
In an effort to increase graduation rates, Hanna High school is hosting the “Walk for the future” door-to-door campaign on September 20. It will be a collaborative effort in which the principal, assistant principals, Dean of Instruction, testing coordinators, at-risk team, teachers, and other community members will come together to help out. They will be traveling from house to house looking for school dropouts who never showed up at school or who never registered at all and offering them assistance. Students who have been missing since August 27, 2013 to August 25, 2014 will be tracked using their last address recorded in their school files.
The “Walk for the future” campaign has been active for over five years now but this is the first year in which each high school is responsible for hosting its own campaign. Not only that, but middle schools such as Oliveira MS and Vela MS will also join in and try to get former students back. The school representatives will talk to the former students about what the school has to offer, such as career programs and organizations, and they will survey them to find out what the school can do to help them. The students will also be given a calendar of testing dates, since many are still missing their college admission test scores, and tutorial schedules to help them prepare for the TAKS and EOC.
The goal is to assist the students in as much as possible and convince them to come back and continue their education. The school will be advertising this campaign on the newspaper to encourage others to help out. Ms. Laura Sierra is coordinating the event and said that any interested volunteers, including parents, teachers, custodians, counselors, and other staff members, are welcomed at 8 am at the Hanna Cafeteria.
Hanna Media (cont.)
“I was looking forward to see all the buildings and mountains,” Theresa Prado said. “I had a great view in my hotel room. I liked being able to bond with everyone and take pictures.”
Aside from the sessions, the students went sightseeing
at the Gaslamp District,
Coronado Island, and the world-famous San Diego Zoo.
The Gaslamp District is located down the street from the hotel, and is lined with—you guessed it—gaslamps. The group frequented the area regularly to eat out and shop.
“I bought a Star Wars lunchbox. That was pretty exciting,” Cesar Rios said.
Coronado Island—similar to our South Padre Island—was visited via ferry. The group headed straight for the beach. For many of the students, it was their first time going shin-deep in the bitingly cold waters of the Pacific Ocean.
At the San Diego Zoo, most of the group agreed that their favorite animals to see were the panda bears, and the most exciting part was being able to ride the gondalas over the forest-like scenery of the zoo.
“Overall, it was an unforgettable experience,” Eduardo Cardenas said. “I learned a lot of new things about journalism and San Diego. I’m really glad I was able to part of it.”
“When you combine fun with learning,” advisor Blanca Perez said, “the students tend to learn and retain more information. They came back ready to work with many ideas for next year’s book.”
Aside from the sessions, the students went sightseeing
at the Gaslamp District,
Coronado Island, and the world-famous San Diego Zoo.
The Gaslamp District is located down the street from the hotel, and is lined with—you guessed it—gaslamps. The group frequented the area regularly to eat out and shop.
“I bought a Star Wars lunchbox. That was pretty exciting,” Cesar Rios said.
Coronado Island—similar to our South Padre Island—was visited via ferry. The group headed straight for the beach. For many of the students, it was their first time going shin-deep in the bitingly cold waters of the Pacific Ocean.
At the San Diego Zoo, most of the group agreed that their favorite animals to see were the panda bears, and the most exciting part was being able to ride the gondalas over the forest-like scenery of the zoo.
“Overall, it was an unforgettable experience,” Eduardo Cardenas said. “I learned a lot of new things about journalism and San Diego. I’m really glad I was able to part of it.”
“When you combine fun with learning,” advisor Blanca Perez said, “the students tend to learn and retain more information. They came back ready to work with many ideas for next year’s book.”
After Two Years (cont.)
Sci-Tech answered all four, which are worth double the points. After Sci-Tech took this 250-180 lead, Hanna just wasn’t able to recover. The final score was 580-500. In doing so, both teams broke the record for most points combined in a match.
“It’s frustrating,” senior member Shane Lewis said. “Looking back, if we would have just studied our paintings we would have won. When you have a chance to take out a team like that, you have to take advantage. And we didn’t.”
The rest of the trio was not anymore optimistic. Seniors Daniel Duazo and Marco Dominguez realize that this was their last chance to be champions.
“We lost last year in this same position, and to be honest, it hurts,” Duazo said. “I thought this would be the year to get us over the hump.”
“This was my first year on the team, but I knew we had something special going on,” Dominguez said. “I think we lost sooner than we should have. No disrespect to Sci-Tech though, they are clearly the best team in the Valley.”
Hanna’s Mastermind’s team will be completely retooled next year. No competing players are returning and it is still questionable whether Mastermind’s sponsor Karl Kessler will remain the coach. However, Hanna has had a longer tradition of Masterminds excellence and should find a way to yield a strong team next year.
“It’s frustrating,” senior member Shane Lewis said. “Looking back, if we would have just studied our paintings we would have won. When you have a chance to take out a team like that, you have to take advantage. And we didn’t.”
The rest of the trio was not anymore optimistic. Seniors Daniel Duazo and Marco Dominguez realize that this was their last chance to be champions.
“We lost last year in this same position, and to be honest, it hurts,” Duazo said. “I thought this would be the year to get us over the hump.”
“This was my first year on the team, but I knew we had something special going on,” Dominguez said. “I think we lost sooner than we should have. No disrespect to Sci-Tech though, they are clearly the best team in the Valley.”
Hanna’s Mastermind’s team will be completely retooled next year. No competing players are returning and it is still questionable whether Mastermind’s sponsor Karl Kessler will remain the coach. However, Hanna has had a longer tradition of Masterminds excellence and should find a way to yield a strong team next year.
Case Closed (cont.)
Initially, many students were disappointed with the decision to close the campus. One student unsuccessfully organized a petition to keep the campus open during lunchtime. Even now, many students are still disappointed with this new policy.
“I thought that I was going to be approved for a lunch pass so I didn’t really care about whether or not they closed the campus,” one senior said. “But when I found out I was denied because I had a couple of absences, I was upset because I’m the only one out of my friends who didn’t get a pass.”
Students who used to go out to eat have found other places to find lunch.
“I don’t like the food they serve in the cafeteria,” he continued. “That’s why I used to go out to eat. But now, I just buy a snack from the library or a muffin from Mr. Mosh or a bag of chips. Obviously it’s not the same as a meal from Whataburger or McDonald’s, but it’ll make due until I try to get a lunch pass next time.”
Some underclassmen are upset with this new closed campus because they are not even considered for a lunch pass.
“I feel like it’s unfair because a lot of the tardies and absences were blamed on all of us instead of only the ones who were actually tardy or absent,” sophomore Astrid Gutierrez said. “I was excited because I was finally going to get a car next month and now I see it as pointless because it’s not like I can actually go out.”
Some students have not noticed much of a change with this new policy.
“I hardly went out to eat,” senior Moses Sierra said. “I usually stayed on campus and ate the food here. Other than there being more students in the pizza line or cafeteria line, the closed campus hasn’t really affected me at all.”
However, some students don’t think it is a bad idea.
“I thought this lunch pass was going to be a bad idea,” senior Kyle Fischer said. “But I knew that I wasn’t one of those who were tardy or absent often. And now I’ve noticed that more of my classmates are coming to class on time than before, so it means that this policy is working. Plus, there’s less traffic in the parking lot during lunch time and less students crowding the restaurants. It’s not as bad as everybody thought it would be.”
Students can request a lunch pass after every three weeks to check if they qualify.
“I thought that I was going to be approved for a lunch pass so I didn’t really care about whether or not they closed the campus,” one senior said. “But when I found out I was denied because I had a couple of absences, I was upset because I’m the only one out of my friends who didn’t get a pass.”
Students who used to go out to eat have found other places to find lunch.
“I don’t like the food they serve in the cafeteria,” he continued. “That’s why I used to go out to eat. But now, I just buy a snack from the library or a muffin from Mr. Mosh or a bag of chips. Obviously it’s not the same as a meal from Whataburger or McDonald’s, but it’ll make due until I try to get a lunch pass next time.”
Some underclassmen are upset with this new closed campus because they are not even considered for a lunch pass.
“I feel like it’s unfair because a lot of the tardies and absences were blamed on all of us instead of only the ones who were actually tardy or absent,” sophomore Astrid Gutierrez said. “I was excited because I was finally going to get a car next month and now I see it as pointless because it’s not like I can actually go out.”
Some students have not noticed much of a change with this new policy.
“I hardly went out to eat,” senior Moses Sierra said. “I usually stayed on campus and ate the food here. Other than there being more students in the pizza line or cafeteria line, the closed campus hasn’t really affected me at all.”
However, some students don’t think it is a bad idea.
“I thought this lunch pass was going to be a bad idea,” senior Kyle Fischer said. “But I knew that I wasn’t one of those who were tardy or absent often. And now I’ve noticed that more of my classmates are coming to class on time than before, so it means that this policy is working. Plus, there’s less traffic in the parking lot during lunch time and less students crowding the restaurants. It’s not as bad as everybody thought it would be.”
Students can request a lunch pass after every three weeks to check if they qualify.