Category: Education

With the first and second UIL virtual meet in the history books District Coordinators, Irma Tijerina, and Abel Zamora describe the begging process and the current actions taking place to improve the authenticity of the 100-year long UIL competitions

“This year has been a roller coaster as for UIL we didn’t think it would happen to begin with,” UIL Coordinator Abel Zamora said 

However unlike High and Middle school “ Elementary students haven’t had their first event yet; having young minds that aren’t accustomed to Virtual UIL is something we have to prepare for,” Tijerina said

Yet the uncertainty of this year was still up in the air “We didn’t fully know if we were going to have UIL this School Year after it was confirmed we had continues meeting on how to set up for Virtual Competitions,” Zamora said 

“ After the first competition, we wanted to ease the process and bring a competitive spirit in the play; in certain events, we added schools within the LaJoya district to be apart of one Google Meet,” Zamora said

“However, the idea of other districts competing with us isn’t possible at this moment, and the idea of switching virtual platforms risks the safety of students,¨ Zamora said.

Both Zamora and Tijerina devote a lot of thought to what will happen next, both participate in meetings where numerous ideas flow in and out to better the student experience for UIL.

Zamora express the plans moving forward into the 2020-2021 School year “ With the start of the second semester and opening of school, we plan to compete virtually in-home on days of competition, yet safety guidelines still need to be maintained while competing,” Zamora said

“Nothing is set in stone there are changes that we plan to experiment with for upcoming event.” Zamora said

As a reminder to the student “ I want students to know that this is an evolving process. We still have meetings about what should we implement, change and keep to maintain UIL available to everyone,” Zamora

  Donald Trump VS Joe Biden Presidential Election. This election is continuously being updated due to late voting counts in different states. The election/debate began back on November 3, 2020. This year’s election is still going on. Therefore, there is no presidential winner yet. 

  There have been continuous updates; Joe Biden’s voting percentage is much higher than Donald Trump’s right now. Although this election is still in process, the chances of Joe  Biden winning in certain states is higher than President Donald Trump.

  “Donald Trump failed to respond quickly to this pandemic. He has damaged the lives of several people; he chose not to take precautionary measures. He failed to protect us financially during Covid-19.” Says a Democratic supporter. Despite Trump’s failure to increase unemployment payments for covid-19, the election is not over. There are upcoming updates from the local government. 

  “Joe Biden is the worst candidate to have. He does not care about our future or humanity. His family is corruptive. Donald Trump is here to help financially, even to those who do not have money whatsoever.” Says a Rebluciban supporter. Certainly, there has been an enormous change in society with the election this year, but it is not over yet. There are still incoming late votes that are being counted in different states.

  Above all, the presidential election is still occurring. Officials say they will finish counting ballots soon. “If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us. If you count the votes that came in late — we’re looking at them very strongly. But a lot of votes came in late.” says President Donald Trump to the public after viewing the election voting rate for Joe Biden. 

Boxing is a contact sport where you get points by hitting an opponent. Keyla Pruneda, 14 years old, ranked number one in the nation, is going to defend her title at the 2020 Boxing National Championship at Louisiana. With her recent loss against Jesselyn Silva, Keyla is looking forward to her rematch.

“I am waiting for the rematch; I am going to try my best. I have already changed my boxing technics, and last year I had personal problems; this year, nothing will stop me from winning and retaking my title to maintain me as the rank number one,” Pruneda said.

Practicing from Monday through Friday at 7 pm, getting ready for her tournament starts December 5 to December 12. Starting at the age of 8 and accomplishing, so much her parents are proud of her.

“A lot of people ask us why we are always with her, but we like to show our proudness by standing with her in her wins and her loss,” Nancy said Kayla’s mom.

Discipline is to obey rules. Juan Cardenas, coach of Cardenas Boxing Gym, said that Keyla, best known as “La Patrona,” needs the discipline to go far.

“She is a great fighter, but she needs the discipline to get far, to go pro,” Cardenas said. “When Keyla won, she was as an amateur, the second nations, she fought a lefty, now she is fighting with a heavier fighter. She needed to bump her weight from 95 to 101 pounds.”

La Patrona says that she does not fells confident nor worry.

“I am not worry, but I do need to hit harder,”Keyla said.

“ Go and support our team at the 2020 Nationals tournament at Louisiana from December 5 to 12,” Cardenas said.

Students and individuals affected by the coronavirus pandemic have found themselves in a precarious situation where they have easy access and a greater amount of downtime, which causes them to use their phones more, especially at night.

“I have definitely seen an increase in sleep-deprived illnesses during this pandemic. It has also affected me by not allowing me to get a proper sleep since I’m constantly thinking about my patients if they are going to survive for the night.”, Melissa said. For this reason, people have been unintentionally harming themselves consistently as they use their devices, especially at night more than normal.

“Using your phone before bedtime has copious amounts of consequences such as it can interfere with the amount of time you sleep, causing many of us to become sleep deprived and can even cause damage to your eyes.”, Melissa said. People have learned that picking up a cell phone is the norm and has become accustomed to having it with them at all times. Using a phone at night, for example, can have countless negative effects on the human body.

“I usually sleep at around 2 because I use my phone or play Xbox with my friends.”, Robert said. Robert, a normal teenager, has acquired a negative attraction to sleeping late and using his device for an extended time. The habit of sleeping late for a good time can seem fun until the negative effects of sleeping late kick in.

I use my phone often, about 7 times per day, but I think I usually use it more towards the night since I’m bored around then.”, Livan said. This habit of using the phone at night can have many negative effects on the human brain, such as a dwindling mental state and mental health.

“There are many factors on why people are sleeping later, but the main factor is due to the stress going on whether it’s about working, school work, and even more twitch the pandemic going on.”, Melissa said. For whatever reason, sleeping later has negative effects and can cause serious issues later on in life, especially when the person staying up late at night continuously is a teenager.

“It can be extremely dangerous to go sleep deprived for so long because it can affect your mental abilities and even your mental state, and it’s very important to have a healthy state of mind, especially in the teenage years.”, Melissa said. These effects are only a minuscule of problems that can arise from being sleep deprived. Issues relating to family, work, school, and even your state of depending on you sleeping properly and putting the devices down for the night.

The district has stated that extracurricular groups will be able to fundraise during the current pandemic. This will give groups such as UIl, TAFY, and NHS a chance to raise money following social distancing regulations.

Sandra Gonzalez, the registrar, has stated that with fundraisers being allowed this year, it will be up to the sponsors to come up with the fundraisers. Then they will send a form to us for Principal Claudia Gomez to sign, and then it will get approved by a higher up.

Claudia Camarillo, the UIL coordinator, and NHS sponsor, stated that it has always been hard for students to fundraise, and given the current situation, it will be a lot harder.

“ I just think that it is going to be hard, and it has always been hard for students at Jimmy Carter to fundraise because of the limitation of having only two fundraisers per semester and because of the participation because we don’t have that many students, so we don’t have that big of a community to sell to,” Claudia Camarillo said.

Esmeralda Loera, Junior Class Secretary, feels confident about the district’s decision and feels that they allow schools to gain money and still help out the school somehow.

“Ultimately, it is all up to the class and the sponsors on how they want to fundraise money with the whole Covid situation happening, but I feel like it is nice that we are allowed to do that, and then it is up to us on how we do it to keep it safe,” Esmeralda Lorea said.

People affected by quarantine and the pandemic have found themselves at home more often. This leads to them making unhealthy choices such as eating too much junk food and unhealthy food. This has led to an increase in obesity and weight gain during the pandemic, leading people’s health to deteriorate.

“I have personally have seen an increase in people eating junk food from being in quarantine. People are stuck indoors, so they begin eating more, causing them to gain weight,” Melissa said.

The lack of nutrient-rich food has led to increased health complications such as diabetes, heart disease, and cholesterol. The problem needs to be addressed, and people need to learn that their food is important to their health and well being. 

“There are many risk factors for not eating healthy, such as high blood pressure and even causing you to be obese. Poor eating can also cause stress, tiredness, and even a risk of developing an illness later on in your life,” Melissa said.

Convenience, ease of access, or lack of food has also lead people to increase the amount of junk food they have consumed. During the pandemic, people’s nerves didn’t help the situation either, as many people found it easier to stay at home when they were eating. 

“Eating healthy is important since the nutrients in the foods help with the daily activities we do daily. Eating healthy can also lower the risk of certain diseases and conditions, and overall, not eating the proper foods can affect your mental health.”, Melissa said. 

“Everyone should decide to eat more healthy because eating healthy can provide positive outcomes for your body and overall makes you feel good, but I know it’s difficult to do that these days.”, Melissa said.

Although it might not seem important at the time, it is always important to eat healthily. If it’s not possible at the time, you should always eat responsibly and moderately and be mindful of the risks of eating unhealthy foods. Being mindful of the foods you eat will ultimately make you a better, healthier person physically and mentally.

The ongoing pandemic has given students a new outlook on school and life. 

“It truly has changed my perspective on life,” a junior, Karolina Hernandez, said.

Hernández said that the virus has been hard on her, but it has made her appreciate her family. With a changed attitude, she proceeds to say, “The pandemic made me cherish my loved ones,” Hernandez said. 

To add, there are different ways the virus has impacted students. Another student Evelyn, Trevino, sophomore, said that the virus gave her more time to work. 

“Now, I cannot only manage my time but know what’s best for me,” Trevino said.

Trevino also said that COVID had changed her priorities.

“ They have changed for the better, Trevino said.

She said this year she wants to improve in her grades and wants to be focused.

“ This year, I try my very best in all my assignments. My top priority is staying focused on my grades,” Trevino said. 

COVID-19 has changed many school characteristics, which has been explained by our instructors, but the one thing that has not been discussed between teachers and students has been fundraisers for this school year. 

Although students are trying to be positive, it has been thought that senior year is only one year away. If they expect to have a trip and a nice prom, they need to gather the money. 

 “I feel concerned about it since I am a member of the Junior Class officers. Last year, we were coming up with all these plans and ideas for our prom and end of year celebrations,” junior class parliamentarian Rachel Cruz said. “However, this year turned everything upside down. I still want to do all these fun stuff; after all, we are approaching our senior year, so the least we could do is try to make it memorable.“

Meanwhile, other students look forward to this year and are waiting for new adjusted activities. 

 “I heard that they are trying to put together an “Among Us” fundraiser,” former junior student Daniela Galvan said, “And I think that’s a great idea since it is trending. I think the fundraisers are going to change to online-only since we cannot mean in large groups.”

It has been hard for the student council to adapt to distance learning and coming up with ways to execute fundraising ideas. 

 “It’s not even a matter of not having any fundraising ideas; it’s thinking of how to collect the money,” Rachel said. “I don’t think it would be safe for us to be managing money because we don’t know where it has been or who might have had Covid-19 and touched that same money.”

 Burning areas in Washington state are increasing because of intense climate change. 

   The wildfires that spread worldwide are causing air pollution to the people and increasing health risks. 

   “This air quality has caused several problems for us and others because of the air we inhale every day. There is no clean air around, so coughs and shortness of breath resolves in  headaches.” Says a family living in Sunnyside, Washington. 

  This air pollution has worsened and will continue to damage people unless wildfires are prevented. The people living around those areas are doing what they can to stop the fierce fires. People were evacuated while their homes were being destroyed. 

   “The wildfires spreading have now affected us uncontrollably. It has burned about 713,000 acres of land. More than 180 homes have been burned, and one death has occurred.” Says a resident in Washington state. 

  Although several people have had damages done, the fires and smoke around the air continue to spread. To stop this from continuing, people are avoiding open fires and are focusing on reducing gas as well—anything to stop the growth of wildfires in the city.

   Wildfires have destroyed people and homes. Stopping the growth of fires can help reduce air pollution to prevent health risks to the people. 

Police persecution, a mostly unreported event currently occurring, is high as police hysteria increases countrywide. As the year progressed, certain circumstances such as Jorge Floyd’s Death, Breana Taylor’s Death, and Jacob Blake’s death can have accelerated the cause of the anti-cop and defunding movements. These so-called movements may have good intentions in mind, but good intentions don’t always work well once implemented in the real world.

Amidst the protest calling for the defunding of police in New York, the city complied with the request and withdrew $1 billion in the police budget to youth programs and other social agencies. These events not only revoked money from officers to other agencies, but they made an unintended message to criminals. This cut in funding towards other programs has unintentionally made the problem worse, not better for the city. Crime is higher than in the previous year. As of September, there have been 152 shootings, an increase of 127% of the last year, and 75.9% for murders over the previous year.

The Histeria and hatred around police have increased drastically after the protest, riots, and movements that came after African Americans’ deaths. An example of this is after the shooting of two police officers in Compton, California. After being targeted by a man and shot were critically wounded in the hospital, fighting for their lives in the emergency room. Protestors surrounded the hospital blocking the entrances to the hospital, yelling, “We Hope They Die.” An officer insider said after questioning him if the hatred and pressure from the public are justified, he stated, “No, it is not justified even though there have been misdoings by law enforcement officers it does not mean to follow these actions. Just like any other job, you are going to have good employees and bad ones.”

Police right now, more than before, are being targeted in the streets as their voices are being left out and are being condemned and judged for actions of only a few. As of September 16, the National Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union, stated, “National alert issue to law enforcement, urging them to remain vigilant,” and quote, “Watch your back and that of your partner.” After the officer once again on police targeting and if he feels as though police are being targeted more these past few months than on average, he stated, “Yes because a lot of people don’t have as much respect for us as they used to and instead view us as enemies instead of those that protect the citizens.” After asking him what he believes is driving this persecution towards you and your work, he stated, “Misinfluence by the black race for recent wrongdoings among them.”

Given a chance, what would you tell the police officer critics given the opportunity? “To abide by the law and not use a few bad doings by police officers to excuse non-peaceful protests and to destroy cities or towns in the name of their justice since they are promoting criminal acts. Justice should not be taken in by their own hands.”