This photograph was snapped in September. It had only been a month since returning to school after quarantine, and it was already time to take senior yearbook photos. Seniors have less than a month until graduation as I write this. Time has flown by faster than we expected, and we can do nothing about it. We have this idea that time is waiting for us, but in reality, we are chasing it. All of these seniors-fellow classmates -who we pass in the halls will be gone, and we will all be moving up. A simple image with multiple meanings for everyone, but to me, it’s a clock. A clock that ticks and notifies us when it is our turn.
Posted inCommunity, Culture, Carter Update
Carter NHS Supplies Yaqui Animal Rescue
The National Honor Society chapter at Jimmy Carter Early College High School successfully closed out their drive to collect food and care items for the local animal shelter. As a nonprofit, Yaqui does a lot with very little, and the community’s support is essential.
Events like this drive are important to create awareness for the need that exists in our community to protect and save domesticated animals from ending up on the streets and at facilities that will end their life.
Posted inEducation, Community, Culture, Carter Update
Real talk with law enforcement
Hidalgo County Officer Morales and Macias paid a visit to Jimmy Carter ECHS students to discuss the drugs, harassment, and bullying.
Preventing bullying involves “raising awareness of consequences and implementing anti-bullying strategies,” Morales said.
Statistics and real examples were shared with students, and they were reminded that “bullying is the third leading cause of suicides resulting in about 4,400 deaths a year.”
Students are encouraged to report incidents early and often, and Morales emphasized the need for reports to be followed through. Additionally, students were informed that harassment and bullying could lead to charges, fines, and jail time.
“Harassment is punishable up to 6 months in jail and a $2000 fine,” Morales said.
Events and visits like these are important to raise awareness and provide reinforcement to the messages students get from educators.
“We can be more aware of what is happening and can happen,” Samantha Salazar said.
Several students indicated that at some level, they are aware that these behaviors and choices carry consequences and that for some of them, they know exactly what they are in for.
Posted inEducation
Custodian means to care
Conversations with her are not formal or stuffy, and it’s like having a casual conversation with your favorite tia. Petra “Petty” Medina is one of the custodians at Jimmy Carter Early College High school. The short-lived encounters in the hallway or cafeteria are an opportunity to listen to someone who makes the conversation interesting; it’s completely different when talking to her than with any other administrator or staff member.
Medina is interesting and funny without even knowing. Her outgoing personality makes students and staff like her; her passion for the work she does is what makes her special. Medina employs your typical South Texas mannerisms and character; she takes charge of the conversation and makes sure that you are having a good time and, above all, feel comfortable. It’s the same with her work.
Medina said that she is doing well this year, and she thanks God because she loves her work a lot. And that is why she tries to do it the best she can.
Although she loves her work, retiring is something Medina has thought about. “As long as I can still walk around and do things well, I will keep at it and dance because I love to go dancing,” Medina said.
For Medina, working at a school is like having access to being reenergized because young people give adults the energy to keep going, which is why she enjoys it.
“My worst experience was working with people that don’t understand the job, and they make you pass through rough times.”
Is complicated for Medina to work with a coworker that is problematic, and Petty is not all about causing problems. It was hard for her to overcome the situation she was in, but with patience and ignorance, Petty was able to be calm and continue doing what she loves.
Posted inEducation
Juana Maria Perez
You can still find her in the classroom today even as she works past what she calls Chemobrain. Juana Perez is a two-time breast cancer survivor whose ordeal has forever changed her experience and mindset. Before her diagnosis, Perez considered herself fast-paced and didn’t fully engage with the present tense. She was constantly moving forward and worrying about what was to come when her job. However, when Perez was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was forced on medical leave.
The first time Perez was diagnosed, she took it relatively lightly, and she mainly focused on the positive and wanted to get better: which she knew she would. The second time though, that was a tough battle to fight.
“The second time around really opened my eyes.” After beating cancer the first time, she was convinced she wouldn’t get cancer again. But once she found out she had a 35% chance of survival, she lost hope.
“I didn’t want to fight; I didn’t have the energy or the willpower.” Perez struggled and was emotional to the point where she didn’t look forward to anything until she realized she had found a reason to fight: her girls.
“Waking up and hearing my girls in the kitchen making breakfast is my happy life.” Perez finally realized she had something worth fighting for; she decided to snap out of her depressive state and began to fight, although the chances of surviving that type of breast cancer were a lot lower.
“I believe everything happens for a reason; my faith allowed me to keep hope.” Perez believes that although sometimes we are blinded by these blessings, God will always put us on the right track. “Traffic is bad sometimes, but maybe there’s an accident or something that God is preventing me from experiencing.”
Once Perez snapped out of her depressive state, she began to fight cancer to her fullest and eventually beat triple-negative breast cancer with the support of her family. “From this fast-paced individual to a calm and in the moment person, my past has impacted my mindset for the better.”
Posted inStudent Life, Student Profile, Education, Community
Junior Explores Explorer Program
Junior class president Winston Garza participates in a police explorer program with the La Joya ISD police department. The program is offered to students between the ages of 14 and 21, and it teaches them basic information about the law and law enforcement.
“I want to be in law enforcement after high school and college,” Garza said, “so what better way than experience what law enforcement officers on a daily basis right there with them?”
The program does fit in with Garza’s school/work schedule. Although one of the cons that come with it is still how long some of the meetings could take. Which still “isn’t that much [time].”
“I think it very much will be valuable in the future. Say I apply for a job at a local agency; I’ll have some knowledge other cadets might not have. It helps. It’s also shown me there’s time for fun and time for work.”
With a month-long summer academy, participants receive training in traffic stops, felony traffic stops, writing citations, etc.
Last November and December, the police department worked on both a Thanksgiving turkey and Christmas drive.
“I would say the best thing were the ride alongs. I would say, however, 2nd place would be the events with the community, seeing the smiles on kids and families [faces]”, Garza continued,
The Police Explorer Program is a part of Learning for Life, a subsidiary of the Boys Scouts of America. To qualify, applicants must have graduated from 8th grade and must be between 14 and 21.
“If the field of law enforcement is something you want to do in the future, I encourage it. And, I hope you find as much joy, entertainment, privilege, knowledge, and honor in it as I do.”
Posted inStudent Profile, Education, UIL, Community
RedWolves Advice: Dealing with academic stress
As the spring semester starts slow and shaky, the lure of mid-year exams and finals are still on people’s minds, not even to mention the added stress of other academic responsibilities. Whether that be UIL or just applying to different colleges and scholarships.
Junior class parliamentarian Dominique Brown is no stranger to this type of stress. Since around the second grade, she has been in UIL, only joining because coaches needed more people to participate in the spelling event. She decided to try out ready writing and journalism when she entered high school.
“I’d say I’m pretty decent at it. There are things I can still improve on, but I still end up receiving 1st through 3rd place most of the time.” Brown said.
She says that while she will have to worry about writing college essays eventually, her experience from the events will help her format the papers properly. Writing those essays would become less complicated because she has already learned to make her writing fit well with each other.
UIL meets naturally highly stressful. You have to sit in the same room with all the people who you’ll have to compete with. “The room is dead silent, so it’s you with all your thoughts, and it gets a little suffocating.”
To deal with this feeling, Brown says she’ll usually zone out and think about different books she has read in the past, thinking about whether she could use any of them as an example in her ready writing competition. During her journalism events, she’ll spend a little time staring at one specific word or sentence to see how she could change it to fit better with what she’s writing. But most importantly, she breathes calmly for a few minutes and then continues.
“I do feel like if I don’t do as good as I normally do, then I’ll disappoint myself,” Brown continued. “I tend to compare myself to past me and to others around me, so whenever I think I don’t do as good as how I’ve done before, I shut down and ‘face’ the truth. But then the results come back, and it’s not as bad as I made it out to be.”
To encourage others not to give in to this mindset, she says she’d tell others that their mistakes will not be the end of the world.
“They tried their best, and at the end of the day, their coaches are still proud of them for trying. It doesn’t determine whether or not you’re a failure.”