Volume 107, Issue 1 Modesto High School October 2019

3 MJC Classes

4-5 The Spirit of Homecoming

6-7 Club Faire

8-9 The Amish Project

10-11 Hispanic Conference

12-13 Campus Accomodations

14-15 Coolidge TOP 100

Table of Contents

COVER BY BRYAN ENRIQUEZ

3 MJC Classes Here at Modesto High, there are students who takes classes at MJC. Ever wonder how these students do both? Well a senior here at MoHi shared about her experience with balancing both high school and her MJC class.

High school is already tough enough for some students and it’s hard to imagine having to take an extra class at a college level. One would think it’s a lot to balance. Lizbet Villaseñor takes the online course, Health 110 through MJC, and she said, “ It’s just like taking another class.” She usually does her college work when she has free time or the week-ends.

Taking MJC classes as a high school student comes with many benefits. One of the main benefits is being able to have a head start in college. This is actually one of Villaseñor’s reason for taking an on-line college course. She even added that her college course is much better than her classes in high school because she has it online which gives her time for other things.

Photo taken by: Sabrina Mean

One of the AVID teachers at Modesto High, Mr. Cardenas, recommends that students take MJC classes. He says, “[It’s] great for students to have op-tions and a cheaper alternative...as long as they are committed or determined to transfer to a four year or into a tech school of another choice.” When he was a student here at Modesto High, he did not take any MJC classes. “It was either not available for me to take at the time or I just hadn’t been informed about it”, he said. Nevertheless, it’s nice to know that high school students today have this opportunity and have been informed about it. The advice Mr. Carde-nas gives to committed students is to “take as many [classes] as your schedule allows you to in order to get ahead on college credits.”

Mr. Perez, a counselor at MJC and Modesto High, recommends students take advantage of the duel enrollment. “High school students can take free courses,” Mr. Perez said. His advice for balancing high school and college is for students to manage their time well. There is plenty of homework and reading when it comes to college courses and so time man-agement is important. Overall, if a student wants to have a head start in college and is fully committed to doing so, then the student should talk to a counselor about taking a course or more at MJC.

By: Vanika Kang

Panther Pirates

Logo from: mjc.edu

The Spirit of HomecomingBy: Hayde Abrego and Lyla PatelPotographs Courtesy of Bryan Enriquez

The most highly-anticipated event of the fall season is Homecoming week. Students eagerly compete as they are divided among graduat-ing classes to demonstrate who has the highest degree of school spirit. At the end of the week, the alumni gather together to collaboratively express their school spirit with the long await-ed rally, as well as the football game.

Homecoming appears to be a time of joy and unity in the eyes of the general student population, but after taking a closer view through the eyes of the leaders behind the execution of the elaborate event, the long hours, hard work, blood, sweat, and tears are evident. The reactions and results of homecoming were reflected upon by the experienced leaders of the ASB class, who described their experiences with this year’s homecoming. As the week came to an end they were able to see it as a time of success as they saw their growth and efforts reflect-ed on their work. The ASB class as a whole united in order to celebrate the victory of the Modesto High football team home-coming. Sophomore Class President, Sehaj Pannu (‘22) explains how, “It is critical as an ASB class with all the Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior classes, to work together diligently, which helped us all grow and put together an amazing homecoming for the entire ASB student body to enjoy and cele-brate.”

During half-time, as the varsity game was about to commence, the leadership class performed wonderful skits that matched their class theme. Although, obstacles were faced during the pro-cess and there were many difficulties to over-come, in the end, it contributed to a wonderful experience. Sophomore Class president, Sehaj Pannu stated that, “the most memorable expe-rience during homecoming for the sophomore class was during the skit. After working hard for two months, and seeing the amazing outcome, we were able to see that hard work really pays off.” Carson Carranza (‘21), the ASB vice presi-dent, reflected upon the challenges and obsta-cles, the juniors overcame to victory. He said their biggest pitfall “...was when our music did not work during the skit, so we ended up having to sing the last 30 seconds of the music which was funny, but it also brought the Junior class together by having to improvise together.”

Shubpreet Bal (‘20), the ASB Treasurer, ex-plained her most memorable experience, “...was living in the moment, having fun with my friends and getting to hang out with them for one last football homecoming. It was the beginning of many ends.” Although upset about the junior win for their final football homecoming, the seniors were not discouraged, but are anxious about the final winter homecoming to gain redemp-tion. Despite the division that surfaced between graduating classes, “the black hole was an amazing experience because after the four classes compete all week against each other, and though it did get stress-ful, eventually we all came together under ‘Modesto High’ to support our team and be united,” said Carson Carranza (‘21).

The stress and time invested in homecom-ing paid off for the Modesto High student body and the ASB leadership class, who were proud of the results of the home-coming season as a whole. Overall, home-coming was a memorable experience as it fulfilled the goals of the leadership class while providing a time of joy for friends, family, students, and staff.

Club Faire is all about finding what students are passionate about. It helps students discover their hob-bies and make friends with similar interests. Mrs. Har-ris the activities director, said that Club Faire has been known to be an activity on campus for more than 10 years. Club Faire was started to promote clubs, recruit members, and to show the student body what type of clubs they can join. This year’s Club Faire hosted about 40 clubs in total. Club Faire is believed to help students in the sense of building community and helps connect students. Dahara Patel gave many suggestions as to which clubs she would recommend to other students, such as speech and debate for people who are interest-ed in the world, Mock trial for anyone who is interest-ed in the criminal world and the law. Miss Patel said, “Club Faire helps spread awareness for clubs and to let people know what type of clubs there are.” Clubs of course help students in many ways. Dahara said,

“Clubs help kids make friends, build creativity, and learn to become leaders.” Dahara believes Club Faire was an amazing idea. Sedina Ackuayi agreed with Dahara Patel she said, “Clubs raise awareness for different causes and help people learn to join different communities and help them develop the skills that they can take out into the real world wherever they are.” She believes that Club Faire is a great way to help students. She explained that, “they help clubs grow and expand while also giving students the experience of meeting people that they don’t know and helping people sign up for their clubs. It also helps clubs get the message across of what they are trying to portray for their clubs.” Sedina, a member of Project Hope, believed Club Faire was amazing. Mr. Thomas who is the advisor to the MoHi Art Club, answered ‘’It makes students aware of what’s available on campus’.” He elaborated by saying that ‘’it

gets students involved in things they wouldn’t have an opportunity to get involved with normally with classes.’’ Mr. Thomas said, ‘’my intentions in the art club is to help them find what they like, and to explore in the art club.’’ Mr. Thomas said students should join the art club because it’s super cool and if they join the club they get free candy. Ivan Lopez said, ‘’it brings more attention to what clubs there are on campus and some people don’t know what’s offered on campus and how many clubs are actually involved in certain types of things.’’ He answered ‘’clubs benefit students by experience or college applications because some people just do clubs for college applications.” He answered ‘’it teaches them how to manage their time, and how to study and also how to react under pressure.’’ The clubs bring people together to find things that they wouldn’t find out if they didn’t join one. There are different types of clubs like the Art Club, Speech and Debate, and Project Hope. And all the clubs are unique in their own ways.

Club Faire Panthers Pursue Their Passions

The Club Faire during fifth lunch. Picture by Lamya Hayes

gets students involved in things they wouldn’t have an opportunity to get involved with normally with classes.’’ Mr. Thomas said, ‘’my intentions in the art club is to help them find what they like, and to explore in the art club.’’ Mr. Thomas said students should join the art club because it’s super cool and if they join the club they get free candy. Ivan Lopez said, ‘’it brings more attention to what clubs there are on campus and some people don’t know what’s offered on campus and how many clubs are actually involved in certain types of things.’’ He answered ‘’clubs benefit students by experience or college applications because some people just do clubs for college applications.” He answered ‘’it teaches them how to manage their time, and how to study and also how to react under pressure.’’ The clubs bring people together to find things that they wouldn’t find out if they didn’t join one. There are different types of clubs like the Art Club, Speech and Debate, and Project Hope. And all the clubs are unique in their own ways.

Panthers learn about the variety of clubs on campus.Pictures by Lamya Hayes

Story by Lamya Hayes and Gieselle Martinez

THE AMISH SCHOOLHOUSE SHOOTING occurred on October 2, 2006 when a man ran into a school and held 10 Amish girls hostage. He eventually shot them, killing four and injuring seven before killing himself. It has been 13 years since the tragedy happened. This play was brought to life by Modesto High’s Theater Production Group, analyzing the ways in which people cope after a tragedy.

Photograph taken by Mary Altaffer/AP Going from adaptation to adaptation, works of art such as plays can have a lot of similarities. The Amish Project is an exception. What truly makes the play different is the actors themselves because they had to make a new play with the same story. The actors had heavily influenced the new direction of the play. From Breanna Donnelly’s perspective, she said that “The main aspect of the production that’s bringing something new is the actors themselves.” It is hard to interpret a factual story in a different way, but for these actors to bring themselves and inter-

Sometimes, actors receive a huge challenge in their take of the character. For one actress, McK-enna Early who plays a ghost, her hardest challenge was to try to figure out how to portray a ghost. They had also “never talked to the Amish or studied them. I don’t know how dead people act [so I had to] do as much research as possible and [there was] lots of guessing.” Breanna, the other actress interviewed, said that “the biggest challenge of taking on my role

pret their characters on their own is phenomenal!

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRYAN ENRIQUEZ

Though the actors have to take on their own inter-pretation of the characters, on some occasions, the actors are very similar to the character which

The play occurred from October 4th to the 6th where families came to watch. Prior to the play, they were asked who would enjoy the show and Bre-anna answered saying that “I believe that this show brings a little something to the table for everyone. It has an amazing script with a very strong theme which I hope that the audience will love. Overall, I believe the person who will love the show the most, because everyone will love it, is one who has a strong vision for society.” However, McKenna recommended that young kids not watch the play because “it’s about a massacre, [but] pretty much for everyone except kids.” Overall, after the three days the play was performed, it turned out to be a great success!

is having to be angry and venomous when I speak. A lot of my previous roles have been on the opposite end of the spectrum, so making sure that I fit this as-pect of Sherry was definitely a large element to work on during rehearsals.” Not knowing how a certain group of people act can be really difficult to express but possibly the best part is the interpretation of the actors and to see how their take on the character is displayed.

potentially makes the play much better. When asked which actor they thought was most like their char-acter, Breanna’s and McKenna’s responses were not definitive. Breanna said that “[I] believe that every-one has aspects that are great at portraying their roles. All of the characters put each actor into a new perspective that they have never been in before.” McKenna said something similar in that “All actors put themselves in their character.”

MJC Hispanic Education Conference And MoHi takes another DUB! On October 12, 2019, Modesto High School took over 500 students, double the amount from last year, to the 36th Annu-al MJC Hispanic Education Conference, winning the Champion Award for the second time in a row! This was a historic moment for Modesto High because when this event started in 1984, the school only took about a dozen students. This year was different. The original plan was to take five bus-ses; however, due to the great re-sponse, the school ended up taking eight busses. Stu-dents put in their time and effort by having to wake up early and arrive at the bus stop by 7:20 a.m. Some students attended for the experience while others went for the extra credit that was offered in some of their classes. Despite students attending for different rea-sons, Mr. Perez, a counselor at MoHi and MJC states, “This experience will be different for all students.” Besides students attending this conference, Mr. Tre-vino, a Spanish teacher at MoHi, had never been to this event before and “hopes to meet a lot of [other] students [outside] his classroom” and gather infor-mation so that he can “share it with his students.”

Upon arriving at the destination, breakfast and lunch were provided for all the schools that attended. Andrea Tejeda, a senior at MoHi, was motivated to attend this conference again due to the “workshops and food.” After checking in, students, teachers, and staff were directed to the Little Theatre, where speeches, awards, and performances were presented. MoHi’s very own, Mr. Perez was given the

Legacy award from MJC and the Certifi-cate of Congressional Recognition from Con-gressman Josh Harder. Mr. Perez explained that it was “an honor [and] a blessing.” While accepting the award, MoHi students were cheering for him on the sideline. Mr. Perez states that “this award is for all MoHi students and staff.”

After the session, all the students were released to go to a variety of workshops such as Communication Skills You Need to Know and Make Your Voice Heard with Congress-man, Josh Harder. Each workshop lasted about 50 minutes and students were able to speak to people that had experience in the career they were interest-ed in. Kaylene Gutierrez, a senior at MoHi, said the memorable part of the event was when “Josh Harder was there and [he] listened to our questions, com-

MJC Hispanic Education Conference

ments, and concerns during his workshop.” Although not everybody who went to the event got to meet Josh Harder, they had an amazing time meeting the speakers. Tejeda said she, “learned a lot” from the conference. Ebelin Villaseñor, a freshman at MoHi, mentioned that it was a “fun event” and “awesome, nice, and good [for] exploring other careers.”

As the workshops ended, students filled out a survey to get their lunch for free. The survey consisted of rating the workshop sessions and the event overall. As students ate their lunch, there were booths everywhere delivering information about colleges, elections, and selling products to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. After everybody had finished eating, there was a dancing and singing contest where students from different schools partic-ipated.

Although the students were all from differ-ent schools, they found common ground and had fun despite their differences. Mr. Perez said, “Re-gardless of our paths and walks in life, we’re all the same [and] we need to celebrate one another.”

Story and Pictures by Sabrina Mean

As students go up the stairs of the Math Building, it is perceived as an obstacle that all eventually overcome. It is only seconds until they make it all the way up and they likely take for granted the journey there. Most people do end up tri-umphant over that mountain of stairs, but not everyone. When there are people who cannot conquer that obstacle, like those who are injured, it is Modesto High School’s obligation to properly accommodate those people with physical lim-itations. For some, it’s a struggle, but for all, it’s a call for Panthers to assist those who are physically limited. Such instances should be a sign for every-one to help and make sure that people can get to class safely and on time, whether it’s at Modesto High School or anywhere else.

In a recent interview with the Director of Modesto High School’s Music Program, Mr. Cover, he explained his struggles with traveling around campus. Mr. Cover is currently recovering from a hip injury, which keeps him from walking very

well. He was forced to use his walker for shorter distances and a wheelchair for longer distances, but is now slowly recovering, only requiring his cane and seldom his walker. He struggles with his limitation everyday, but particularly with his newfound lack of speed. However, his largest concern is mainly about the lack of a “ramp in the music building.” For that reason, he requires the wheelchair lifter to get him to the Music room. In fact, according to Mr. Cover, “Modesto High School is the only school in the dis-trict with no ramp to the music room,” which makes it extremely difficult for people in his condition to arrive to the music room. An additional issue Mr. Cover brought up was the wheelchair lifter. He says the biggest issue with the wheelchair lifter is that it’s around 1⁄2 inch short from the top of the stairs that connects to the music hallway. This means those who use it must find a way to overcome that hurdle, when it should already be functioning for people to use. Mr. Cover did say that the campus is up to code on its condition and that it feels extremely smooth for him to walk on. In addition, he said that the walk-

Campus

Kierrah Mamea struggling to get up the stairs

Story and Photos by Richard ZhengAccomodations

ways are wide enough for him to get around, but there are some cracks on the cement, so he has to continue being cautious.

Another issue is that many students can’t roam around school very well, but Modesto High School does help them in the time of need. Maria Ruiz, a junior at Modesto High School who has spent most of the year on crutches after hip surgery said, “my friends have been very helpful in helping me and so have the security people.” The security guards do help those who need it, but some minor complaints have been expressed. Ruiz said, “People should realize that the accessible ramp isn’t for people to stand there and hangout, some of us have to use it to get to class That’s really been my biggest thing for me, to say excuse me to be able to use the ramp by the main double doors when kids are just stand-ing there.”

Kierrah Mamea is a sophomore at Modesto High School, who sustained a leg injury and requires crutches to move around campus. Kierrah ex-pressed the same concern for this problem as well. “There’s too many kids around and if I have to get through a doorway, I have to wait until everybody goes through, but campus supervi-sors help lead the way through”.” Mamea and Ruiz both show unease that other students or people may be obstacles that determine whether or not they arrive to their destinations on time or safely, which doesn’t help anyone.

Panthers must make sure to assist everyone when they need it. However, it’s especially important to not let our soaring echoes die and value what being a Panther truly means.

Mr. Cover with his walker

Modesto High Scores Big in Calvin Coolidge Scholarship

As the new school year begins, so does the most dreaded task of high school - college applications. For seniors, this struggle is currently their reality, as early admissions applications are ever-approaching. Unfor-tunately, college tuition practically costs a fortune and is a price only few can truly afford, so many students turn to scholarships, like the Calvin Coolidge Scholar-ship.

According to the Coolidge Scholars Program, the Calvin Coolidge Scholarship is, “an annually awarded, full-ride, presidential scholarship that covers a stu-dent’s tuition, room, board, and expenses for four years of undergraduate study.” The scholarship stresses a focus on academic excellence and public policy, and is currently available to high school juniors. The applica-tions for the 2020 cohort are currently open.

Of the mere 16 students who were selected from all of California, two proudly represent Modesto High School: Rachel Thompson and Ashish Thakur. Both applied in their junior years and wrote numerous essays as a part of the detailed application to ultimate-

ly earn their spots. As a part of the scholarship, both students were flown out to Washington D.C. to learn about the former president and about government pro-cesses. They were given tours of all three branches of government: The White House, the Capitol Building, and the Supreme Court.

Rachel Thompson said the tours were directed by a former U.S. representative, who opened their eyes to the reality of government processes. For example, he explained how the media often illustrates meetings at the house as “very aggressive when actually it’s pretty calm and you see both sides of an issue,” Rachel reflect-ed.

The students were also given an in-depth tour of the Bureau of Labor Statistics which not only provided a physical overview of the building, but also explained the significance of the bureau. Ashish said the tour, “really opened my eyes because previously I didn’t really imagine the bureau of labor statistics as having a really impactful role in the lives of the average citizen, but it really showed me how this branch of government

Photos courtesy of Rachel Thompson

was, “about how checking off the boxes of success just makes it lack happiness because if you’re doing com-munity service to just check a box, or to put it on your resume then you’re really not enjoying the experience and its really not adding to your life.” The speakers concluded their experience by sharing lessons from their lives, while opening students’ eyes to differing mindsets and perspectives.

When asked about one thing they would like to share with all other students, both Rachel and Ashish en-couraged other juniors to apply to the Calvin Coolidge Scholarship, despite how selective it may seem. Al-though Rachel and Ashish didn’t win the full-ride scholarship, rather they both won smaller scholarships from the foundation, the experience of learning about the government first-hand proved to be truly invalu-able. Ashish said, “I think that being given the oppor-tunity to really learn about government processes from an inside perspective is something that will continue to impact me for the rest of my life.”

actually deals a lot with trying to reduce the unem-ployment rate and making politicians aware of data that relates to their jurisdiction.”

Aside from the tours and insight on government pro-cesses, the winners also played the roles of senators in a mock debate tournament, where they argued about whether or not the United States should reduce the na-tional debt. “We were put into teams of 5 or 6 students and then they had an elimination debate. They had civilian judges, which means they had normal volun-teers listen in on debates and decide which team won,” Ashish explained.

Finally, their trip ended with a group of speakers, such as successful entrepreneurs, giving speeches to the stu-dents. One of the many lessons that stuck with Rachel

Story by Rana Banankhah

Run an advertisement in the Panther Press.

Email Kerrie Glenn for information.glenn.k@monet.k12.ca.us