February Issue 2023

Crimson

Powerful AI tools face schools’ and governments’ decisions to adopt, prevent, or encourage their use

CLASS RANK SIGNING OUT

Admin considers phasing out GPA based class ranking

PG. 06

INDEPTH: AI INVASION

Analyzing the function and ethics of the rising popularity of Artificial Intellegence

PG. 15 - 21

WINTER SPORTS OVERVIEW

Winter athletes face and overcome obstacles during their seasons

PG. 23

ATIME TO SHARE THEIR

PRIDE

by Michelle Rosas, Web Director and Kalani Gaviola, EIC

Over a year following 2021’s Coming out Against Hate event, the Equity Club hosted Stories of Pride at the PRHS Performing Arts Center on January 20, 2023.

The Equity Club defined the event as “an opportunity for members of the LGBTQ+ community to share their stories”, a tradition the students and teachers behind the event hope to see “continue for years to come.”

It comes after a mass of “community support” for the Coming out Against Hate Forum, an event that was organized after many PRHS students and teachers were concerned by what they considered to be a lukewarm district response to an LGBTQIA+ hate crime and subsequent policies regarding the pride flag at school.

The forum was opened by the MC of the event, senior Israel Perez-Pedraza (he/him) who is the co-president of ACT club. Along his side was the president of Equity club, junior Sprout Aragon (she/ her).

There were a total of 11 speakers with a surprise speaker, Eve Barajas, who was welcomed on stage during the Q&A portion of the event.

The first speaker of the event was Leo Corly (they/xe), a Bearcat alumni. In the event he shared his journey and hardships he faced on this campus. He mentioned that he got hate crimed multiple times on this campus. And decided to participate at the event to speak out and help other trans and queer teenagers with their journey. “I came here tonight to say ‘thank you’ to all of you queer and trans relatives from the depths of my big gay heart”.

The second speaker of the night was sophomore, Jae Cota (he/ they). He was a speaker at the Coming out against hate event and they decided to speak out again this year to share his experience with his transition. He talked about how body dysmorphia heavily impacted his life but they realized that they were restricting themselves from doing what they wanted to do. “ Although it is hard to not go back, I’m very proud of myself and how far I’ve come.”

The next speaker of the event was sophomore Sky Collins (she/ her). Collins read Euphoric Alsaela’s testimony. In the testimony Alsaela’s story is shared through her writing a letter to her younger self. Her advice is: “I know you’re scared, I’ve been there and I’m not going to say it’s going to be okay because it’s not but it will get better. That, I can promise you.”

Doug Hueman (he/him), the next speaker, is an attorney who serves the LGBTQIA+ community. He talks about how things have changed since he was a teenager. “I have been so impressed by the

courage of the Paso Robles High School LGBTQ+ students to tell the truth to the adults and not accept “business as usual,” he said.

Junior Nicole Rogers (she/her) returned from last year’s event to read the story of Kamille Higuera. Rogers recited Higuera’s poem where the audience got to hear her experience with discovering her sexual orientation. “It takes courage to put yourself out there, but if you hide away you’ll never know what you could discover,” Higuera said.

Connor Railsback (he/they), a junior, read a poem by Jeholp. His poem was him expressing how he has felt throughout the years of him discovering his true self.

Faith LeGrande (she/her) is the next speaker and she works at the “SLO County Arts Council”. She shared her story of being part of the asexual community. She shared her experience of being in a heteronormative relationship even though she is panromantic acesexual. Her takeaway for this was: “Thank you to everyone who organized this event and created a safe space within SLO for our perspectives to be shared.”

Haley Talbert (she/her), English teacher and Equity club advisor. Shared her story through letters to her younger self too. She tells her that life will be complicated but it will all work out in the end. Her advice to her younger self is, “The good times are just over the rainbow. Just you wait.”

The next speaker Ne’jai Bryant (she/her), a senior, read the story of “I”. I’s story shared their experience with their self-discovery and their own view of the community. Their takeaway is: “No matter what happens, there’s always someone out there who’s there to help you feel accepted and supported, always remember that!”

Geoffrey Land (he/him), ACT club advisor, Ethnic Studies and Dual Immersion teacher, spoke as an ally to show support to the community. He talked about how others can help support the community and stand by their side. His take away was: “Finally, we can work together to listen to, connect with, and amplify the voices of our next generations -- those who speak, and those unable to speak.”

Dusty Colyer-Worth (he/him), the next speaker, is a Bearcat alumni, GALA Executive Director. GALA is a center in San Luis Obispo that supports and empowers different gender identities and sexual orientations. He shared his story of his experience and how his grandma helped him with his self-esteem. His advice is, “I say this to all the kids here, to everyone here, in case no one has told you, in case you’ve ever felt like you don’t have permission to be your authentic self - you are beautiful, you are worthy, you are marvelous.”

LGBTQIA+ PEOPLE EXIST. OUR STORIES MUST BE HEARD FOR THAT IDEA TO BE REMEMBERED

EVE BARAJAS, 11, EQUITY CLUB VICE PRESIDENT

THE GOOD TIMES ARE JUST OVER THE RAINBOW. JUST YOU WAIT.

HALEY TALBERT, EQUITY CLUB ADVISER PEOPLE WILL JUDGE YOU REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU EXPRESS YOURSELF , JUST BE YOURSELF CONNOR RAILSBACK, 11, SPEAKER AT EVENT

WHY BE ‘NORMAL’ WHEN YOU CAN BE YOUR BEAUTIFUL SELF?

DUSTY COLYER-WORTH SPEAKER AT EVENT

LGBTQIA+ students and allies come together to share their stories and bring awareness to our campus

‘23

PASO COMMUNITY MEMBERS CELEBRATE IN DOWNTOWN PARK

Acrowd of Paso Robles community members celebrated the annual Paso Robles Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and march in Paso Robles downtown park this Monday, January 16, 2023, at 12 pm.

The event was held at the gazebo, which was specially decorated with Martin Luther King Jr. quotes and photos, with MLK flags and wristbands provided for attendees.

The day opened to overcast skies, with an audio recording of Dr. King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech starting the event. Event coordinator Lovella Walker then welcomed the crowd and explained this year’s theme, “The Power of Love ~ Starting a Chain Reaction.”

The theme is associated with Rachel’s Challenge– an initiative hosted at PRHS earlier this year where students learned about the positivity and determination of 17-year-old Rachel Scott, whose life was cut short in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting that left 13 dead.

“We tied these individuals together because their desire was to make the world a better place, and to make it better with love and compassion,” Walker said. “Martin fought for equality and freedom for all people. 55 years later, racism has grown. Poverty has grown. Hate is on the rise. And we are living in a culture infused with violence and division. “

Walker went on to acknowledge social progress America has made since King’s time, but still asserted that “we have to change to a culture of love.”

MARTIN FOUGHT FOR EQUALITY AND FREEDOM FOR ALL PEOPLE. 55 YEARS LATER, RACISM HAS GROWN. POVERTY HAS GROWN. HATE IS ON THE RISE. AND WE ARE LIVING IN A CULTURE INFUSED WITH VIOLENCE AND DIVISION.

LOVELLA WALKER

The third Monday of January has been acknowledged as a federal holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday- and his peaceful fight for civil rights and equalitysince 1983. The Paso Robles event began in 1990.

Following Walker’s introduction, Kenneth Parish led the group in prayer. Then, PRHS advanced choir, Forte, performed the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”.

“The event was a beautiful testament to what MLK represented,” Lily Shroyer, junior and Forte Soprano section leader said. Denise Isom, Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion at Cal Poly and attendee, taught the choir the importance of the song.

“(We learned) the significance of music and how it draws a community forward, to rise, and overcome the past’s shadows,” Shroyer stated. About 20 Forte members attended the event.

After the performance, community members were given an opportunity to share their ideas on how the Paso community can start a ‘chain reaction of kindness,’ a concept Rachel Scott spoke of often before her death.

One speaker was Netta Perkins, PRHS girls varsity basketball assistant coach.

“(We need) to see one another as human beings who suffer together, bleed the same blood, and, in the end, just want love and to be seen, heard, and cared for,” Perkins said. “It takes one person to start a chain reaction and that can be all of us.”

Walker then acknowledged those involved in the event, including MLK committee members and PRHS teachers Breanne Cerda and Aaron Cantrell, and recognized the 2023 winners of the MLK art contest, with Taylor Keep, junior and first place winner for ‘Most Relevant’, receiving a cash prize. Her winning artwork was featured on the provided brochure.

Other winners include Mars Gunderson (2nd place Most Relevant), Isabel Tanner (1st place Most Thought Provoking), Meiling Alverez (2nd place Most Thought Provoking), Faith Roissa Patterson (1st Most Creative), and Theron Chase (2nd Most Creative).

As the celebration came to a close at around 12:30 pm, the rain began to come down right as the walk portion of the event was supposed to start.

Still, the group of attendees marched a shortened route around the city park to the steady beat of a drum.

“I think the event went well, especially given the weather,” Jennifer Fuller, PRHS Spanish teacher and attendee, said. “(MLK) was an amazing person and important historical figure… We have a lot going on in this country right now and I think we really need to focus on kindness, compassion and peace. And that’s something Martin Luther King really stood for.”

A MLK tutorial event was hosted at PRHS on Thursday, January 19 with student performances, games, and more.

by Kalani Gaviola, EIC

PEOPLE WATCHING (UP): The crowd, MLK flags in hand, wait for the event to begin.

WALKER LEADS THE WALK (LEFT): Community member Lovella Walker planned and ran the event in collaboration with the City of Paso Robles.

SINGING FOR UNITY (DOWN): Forte, about 20 strong at this event, devoted classtime to researching the significance of the Black national anthem before their performance.

Photosby KalaniGaviola

THE RACE FOR SCHOOL BOARD CONTINUES

by Elise Mathers, News Director

Aspecial school board election will be held on April 18, following the petitioned challenge of appointed member and Combat Marine Veteran retiree Kenney Enney. Enney will run against Angela Hollander, retired intensive care nurse and now volunteer within the school district. The special election will cost nearly $500,000 that will come from district funds.

Angela Hollander

Hollander worked in pediatric neonatal intensive care for 25 years before moving to SLO County, where she found herself getting involved wherever she could.

“If you have leadership potential, you should serve others In serving others, it’s not about telling them what to do,” Hollander said. “You find other people who have leadership and you enhance the diversity of opinion to see what will benefit the community.”

Hollander expressed that her roots in the community are what motivate her to run for the position.

“I’m not so much running against the opponent. That’s not where I’m at. I’m running for the position,” Hollander said. “I think I can bring something. While managing the Scholarship Program at the Community Foundation I met people, I’ve worked with every school district in the county. I know the people in the finance office. I know the superintendents, I know the principals. I know a lot of students. So I know this community.”

Challenged Appointment

In August 2022, 10-year board trustee Chris Bausch was appointed to the Paso Robles City Council, and thus resigned from the school board. The remaining members made the decision to fill Bausch’s vacant seat by appointment rather than a costly election. Enney was appointed to the seat in a 4-2 vote, in which Nathan Williams and Tim Gearhart voted no.

Enney’s appointment quickly saw challenges.

“I immediately had lots of concerns, and immediately ruffled lots of feathers,” Enney said. “And I think probably within 72 hours of me being on the board, I had sufficiently upset the establishment and the steps were taken to get me removed.”

Soon 512 signatures were verified from a petition* in

Aug.

response to social media posts made by Enney regarding transgender youth. Enney stated on Facebook that he “rejects the T” in the LGBTQ+ acronym, calling it an “attempt to recruit and convert children.”

Enney shared that his posts were in response to an issue brought forth by a community member during his first meeting regarding a link on the PRHS Student Services webpage.

“There was a link to go into the Trevor Project. And within the Trevor Project, there was a link to what was known as ‘Trevor Chat’. And that was a chat room for 13 to 24 year olds to discuss sex,” Enney said. “It was an issue of child safety, in my opinion. I didn’t want any child to go and potentially be exposed to a predator.”

The petition required 455 signatures to be deemed sufficient, and Enney’s appointment ended on Dec 9.

Special Election

Both candidates have expressed their faith in the election system and have their own sets of goals if elected to the school board.

“There’s good leadership, there’s bad leadership, everything’s a learning experience. If you really want something and you’re dedicated to it, you’re gonna get it and you’ll go out and you’ll find the person that’s going to help you,” Enney said. “Every student needs to understand they hold their future in their hands, and everybody around them is supposed to be supporting. That’s where I think we’ve failed as a community.”

“I don’t want to talk about all these other things. I want to talk about having our children reach their full potential, having them feel safe in school, no matter who they are,” Hollander said. “Whether they’re brown, black, gay, straight, athlete, theater kid, I want our kids to have the best athletic program, the best agriculture program, the best arts program, the best academic programs possible.”

The election will be held on Apr 18. Ballots will be mailed to registered PRJUSD voters on Mar 20.

Oct.

A SEAT OPENS: Maria Garcia resigns from her position on the City Council. Chris Bausch resigns from the school board and is appointed to the City Council.

BAUSCH’S SEAT FILLED : Kenney Enney is appointed to the school board. Enney is an active trustee on the school board for three meetings.

APPOINTMENT CHALLENGED: A petition against Enney’s appointment is filed with the county and deemed valid. The petition received 512 out of the 455 necessary signatures.

UPCOMING SPECIAL ELECTON : Enney’s appointment is terminated on Dec 9. The nomination period for the special election opens on Dec 27.

A NEW OPPONENT: Angela Hollander announces her candidacy for the open school board seat as the only opponent to Kenney Enney.

VOTING BEGINS : Registered voters in PRJUSD boundaries will receive their ballots on Mar 20.

School board elections appeared to have ended, but a new special election is on the horizon this April 2023.

THERE’S GOOD LEADERSHIP, THERE’S BAD LEADERSHIP, EVERYTHING’S A LEARNING EXPERIENCE. IF YOU REALLY WANT SOMETHING AND YOU’RE DEDICATED TO IT, YOU’RE GONNA GET IT.

KENNEY ENNEY

NEWS BRIEFS

POL: SPOKEN WORDS

Twenty-six performers, four judges, and three winners,

students participate in Poetry Out

by Isael Rendon, Arts Editor

The event was held in the PAC where Seniors Tiffany Robles and Zoe Smith narrated the event. There were a total 26 reciters - not including Robles’ and Zoe’s mock poems.

Creative Writing Club conducted the event with the help of English teachers Alicia Witman and Sarah Ramirez. Students got to practice their public speaking skills as well earn prizes for meeting the criteria: physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, evidence of understanding, and the overall performance.

Poetry Out Loud is described by its website as “a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country,” helping students to master “public speaking skills, build selfconfidence, and learn about literary history and

contemporary life.”

There were four judges, with two specializing in a specific aspect of judging criteria: Jeffrey Mount (performance), Sophia Anderson (accuracy), Aaron Cantrell, and Marisa Scoggins.

Five of the 26 recitations were recognized for their performance: Ru Schulte (9), Renata Perez (10), Lilliana Line (9), Jazmin Villareal (9), and Blair Bishop (9)

The top three winners received baskets containing supplies such as bookmarks, notebooks, and more. The first place winner of the Poetry Out Loud event also received a $500 scholarship to travel to a Poetry Out Loud state competition (state and date to be determined) whilst the runner-up received a $200 scholarship.

POETRY OUT LOUD 2023 Winners 1st

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Time approaches to see the Advanced Dance show with a sneak peek on this year’s reading theme

by Kayla Degnan,

As spring rolls around the PRHS Advanced Dance Show does as well with the program hosting this year’s show March, 9,10, and 11, 2023. The show’s theme is Read All About It with dances reflecting issues that may be seen in the media or in a newspaper. Jennifer Bedrosian, who has been teaching dance for 16 years, decided upon the theme with the students in the class, preparing since August for the spring show.

“Read all about it is an upbeat, fun show that features all types of styles of dance from hip-hop, jazz, musical theater, tap, contemporary, and ballet,” Bedrosian said. “It will be checking out different articles of the newspaper while being MC’d by Cade Bigelow.”

Co-President of Jazz and Company, Kylie Stroud,who has been in advanced dance for four years, looks forward to the show each and every year with the difference in themes contributing to the meanings expressed.

fun show to see!” Stroud said.

Stroud is one of the more elite dancers, having participated in the previous shows this year is different with it being the first year without worries of covid shutting down the show.

The class is made up of 43 students, ranging from apprentice to advanced with many of the students taking classes outside of school to work on their technique. The show has around 30 dances with each of the students being put in many different styles and levels of expertise. Each show last year, with the theme Televised, sold out with the times being 7 to 9.

IT’S OPEN TO ALL PRHS COMMUNITY, FAMILY, AND FRIENDS AND WE’D LOVE TO SEE YOU THERE JENNIFER BEDROSIAN

For many of the seniors this is their last time dancing at this level, with 20 out of the 43 being a part of the senior experience in dance. Student night is Thurs. Show, March 9, 2023 with a five dollar entry and the other nights are ten dollars. All are welcome to attend!

“We are putting in a lot of hard work and there are a lot of fun dances as well as meaningful. The dances are looking really good and it would be a

PRHS

Loud

In-depth Editor

2nd 3rd

“I Once Was A Child” by Victoria Chang

“What to Say upon Being Asked to Be Friends” by Julian Talamantez Brolaski

“Under the Edge of February” by Jayne Cortez

BLAIR BISHOP

JAZMIN VILLAREAL LILIANA LINE

CLASS RANK

PRHS adapts as GPA-only criterion appears to fade among schools and colleges

by Serenity Wulfing, EIC and Gabby Silva, Features Editor

With acceptance rates dropping and student stress skyrocketing, class rank is a prevalent topic of discussion for students and staff. Class Rank is chosen based on a student’s GPA. Students with a 4.0 GPA or are in the 10% of their class are recognized as Top Cat. The student with the highest GPA is labeled as Valedictorian and the runnerup is Salutatorian. In order to receive such a high rank, students must take weighted classes,including AP, honors, and dual-enrolled courses with Cuesta. Taking weighted classes can provide students with GPA higher than 4.0. Butadministration and counselors are taking steps to remove class rank and create a new system that encourages students to branch out into school activities, sports, and leadership roles, plus take enrichment classes that are nonweighted.

Effect of Class Rank, and a New System

Counselors say they are concerned that many top students who strive to be recognized by their class rank will only take weighted classes and shy away from countless other classes that may not be boosting their GPA. This is the main concern that the administraton hopes to address with the eradication of class rank.

“It’s really looking at removing that competitiveness so they’re driven to do other things rather than just academic achievements. Especially when you’re in the top 10%, sometimes that added pressure to stay in that rank prevents students from opportunities that they could otherwise have,” Jessica Shatwell said. Shatwell, the college and career counselor, is a part of the team evaluating PRHS policy with class rank. However, removing class rank is just a topic of discussion for future Bearcats any time after 2026 and current high school students are not at risk of losing their GPA rank.

“It would never affect this year’s seniors or the current juniors because it wouldn’t be fair to them. No one wants to play a soccer game and have them change the rules at halftime, right? So there would definitely be plenty of notice for anybody that would be affected by the change well in advance,” Principal Anthony Overton said.

In place of valedictorian and salutatorian, the administration hopes to import a new system that embodies the school’s values rather than spotlight those who took the classes that would get them to the top.

“We are looking at potentially adjusting the criteria and coming up with different methods on selecting valedictorian or salutatorian based on how well they’ve excelled at the idea of being College Career and Community ready when they leave Paso Robles High School. So, highly achieving academically, but also high achieving, in some sort of program and in terms of what they’ve given back to the school and community,” Overton said.

Will it Affect College Acceptance?

Only about 60% of high schools nationwide still use GPA class rank, according to Christine Sarikas from PrepScholar.

SIGNING OUT

Yet some students worry that if PRHS doesn’t provide class rank, it will hurt their chances of getting into college. However, most competitive high schools feel that colleges overlook extraordinary students because they aren’t in the top 10% of their high school, which is one reason the administration is looking into the removal of class rank.

“What it would do is force the colleges to look at the person as a whole, which is what we’re hoping and wanting to achieve,” Shatwell said. GPA matters most to colleges, who want to make sure that kids are taking the most rigorous version of the courses available to them whenever possible. Ranking matters less.

Student and Teacher Perspectives

As far as the opinion of the students, high-ranking students are the few that have a strong opinion about shifting away from class rank. Most students with average GPAS are unconcerned.

“As a sophomore, I haven’t thought too much about class rank, but I don’t think they should take away class rank because it adds the satisfaction of knowing I’m doing well. It’s reassuring to some extent. I like knowing that all the work I am putting into school is paying off,” Hannah Bourgault said, who is currently ranked 6th in her class

Most teachers still hope to see a system that recognizes students for their academic achievements.

“So I think you need class ranking, but I think our school needs to clean it up. Some students might try to tweak the system a little bit. They might try to manipulate it so that they can move ahead of somebody else, not because of being academically superior, but by playing the game. It shouldn’t really be about playing the game. It should be who’s the top and who’s the best,” math teacher Clark Kerr said.

Kerr was the valedictorian of his class.

The idea of removing class rank from over 2000 transcripts comes from the intention of making students of PRHS more competitive in their college application process and reducing the amount of unneeded stress students put on themselves.

WHAT IT WOULD DO IS FORCE THE COLLEGES TO LOOK AT THE PERSON AS A WHOLE, WHICH IS WHAT WE’RE HOPING AND WANTING TO ACHIEVE

JESSICA SHATWELL

Anthony Overton, Principal

Hannah Bourgault, 10

RELEVANT?

CLASS RANK STAYS AB+ D

Success is defined in different ways, and is celebrated in a variety of other ways- but the pinnacle of academic success at PRHS has always been held by our long lines of valedictorians and salutatorians. Recent moves by admin, however, display a lack of enthusiasm around continuing this tradition and newfound support around a valedictorian and salutatorian based on both academics and extracurriculars. (read: Class Rank: Signing Out) Such a decision would not affect current high school students and would instead be implemented to future Bearcats.

Regardless, a majority of the Crimson Staff believe the loss of GPA Rank to be an unhelpful move overall. Valedictorian, at its core, is a longstanding traditional reward for hard work - and the process of removing motivation from hardworking students seems like a punishment. Students’ decision to focus heavily on grades at the expense of other aspects of their lives is a personal, multi-faceted one. The title is less so a cause of academic stress and moreso a facet of school life; even without the title in place, students will receive pressure from other factors to keep their grades up and only take weighted classes.

Studies from American Psychological Association in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology have shown too-high expectations from parents in particular harm student mental health and academic performance, and regardless of whether there’s a title for who performed the best these expectations will continue. Experiments such those by Harvard professor Robert Rosenthal display other methods that don’t take anything away from students. In the experiment, when teachers

Cnewsmagazine

Editors-In-Chief

Kalani Gaviola

Serenity Wulfing

Miguel Muniz

Directors

Elise Mathers News

Braydon Hoier Sports

Kalista Peterson Social Media

Kayla Degnan In-depth

Sienna Ramos 14Days

Editors

Margot Klo Op/Ed

Kylie Troy World

Cassidy Heer People

Adane Siegrist People

Sebi Radojevic Poli-Sci

Isael Rendon Arts

Maddie Hurstak 14Days

Serenity Wulfing Sports

Ana Lopez Carmesi

Naomi Velasco Carmesi

Lyrika Cross Environment

Gabby Silva Features

instilled students with the belief that they could score high on a test, they did significantly better than students who weren’t told they could do well. PRHS staff should facilitate such student faith and opportunity.

The alternative to GPA Rank is allegedly a more balanced approach where administrators look at extracurriculars, leadership, volunteer work, and character. But subjectivity would be an issue in this approach: one can never objectively judge the whole of one’s character, and such a judgment is offensive. Picture all the parents who would ask, “Why was my student labeled…”. Judging one’s entire self vs. just one’s grades is a more personal offense if one doesn’t receive the honor.

Regardless or not PRHS makes this eventual choice – perhaps as late as 2027 – grades will still play a significant part in college applications with top colleges. Universities will still consider grades to be a paramount criterion. The average UCLA admit unweighted GPA is a 3.9. Stimulating a competitive environment for students will prepare them for future stresses of the workplace and give students an opportunity to rise above instead of being protected from a reward for the most academicallyminded students, something that should be celebrated rather than condemned in a place for education.

STUDENT JOURNALISM AT PASO ROBLES HS

Photography

Conner Rocha Director

Rogelio Molina Co-Director

Jakob Baier

Savannah Rickard

Joseph Taranto

Web

Michelle Rosas Director

Advisor

Jeff Mount

Website www.crimsonnewsmagazine.org

Email crimsonnewsmagazine@ gmail.com

Crimson, an open forum for the exchange of student ideas, is an independently funded newsmagazine produced by the journalism class at Paso Robles High School. Crimson reflects the majority opinion of the staff and does not necessarily reflect the views of Paso Robles High School, its faculty, administration, or students. All stories, graphics, typesetting, and layouts are completed by Paso Robles High School students. We are happy to talk with you further about our content, subscriptions in U.S. Mail, and advertising on our pages.

—Crimson Staff

Eradicating class rank and the valedictorian title will not ultimately improve student experience

OPINION

by Nolan Severson, Review Editor

! # * * ? !

% ? #

NOLAN'S NEWS: The College Troll ?

TICK TOCK: ARE YOU ON TIME FOR CURFEW?

Parental enforced curfews are beneficial to students

by Margot Klo, Op/Ed Editor

Bzzt. Bzzt. In ten minutes, a bearcat will be late for their 11:00 p.m. curfew, with the vibration reminding the student that the time they are spending with their friends is coming to an end and they must head home.

Agiant troll lumbers towards me, club in hand, swinging left and right, picking off weary applicants as they attempt to cross his metaphoric collegiate bridge reaching the green pastures of employment and success. This troll, drooling and slobbering, takes the form of a countless step process that includes inputting every piece of information about yourself as well as upwards of 1000 words of mindless and repetitive content that attempts to explain why I need a necessary four years of higher education.

I ponder the question of my applications in my Psychology class. I question the intelligence of my writing. My teacher asks my class of mainly seniors how our applications are going. I think and think and come up with nothing –, I couldn’t say. I pull out my phone and ask the genius of my search browser what the acceptance rate for the California Colleges I applied to is. I see percentages like 3.9%, 10.8% and it only made me sad.

I ask some of my peers going through the same process. Alivia Vogtmann, senior, has some choice words to describe her applications. I can’t say them here, but let’s just say, she doesn’t enjoy the essays she has to write. I pose the same question to my good friend Michael Brown, also a senior. His response is a glaring sideye that stabbed into my soul. His look of anger is enough of an explanation for me. But If any of youBearcat seniors think that you are hopeless and don’t have a chance getting into any colleges, just think that an annoyance like myself has already gotten into two. So take that troll.

Many parents should create a set curfew for their students based on an enforced curfew code in San Luis Obispo County. However, parents should also set a curfew so that their teen has boundaries between being with friends and going home to do homework and other responsibilities. Staying out past curfew can cause a multitude of problems for teens who do not have curfews. San Luis Obispo County Code states that minors are allowed to be out on weekdays until 11:00 p.m. and on weekends until 12:01 a.m. The code enforced by police states that a minor/student in violation of this infraction will be punished by a warning for the first violation. This municipal code not only gives parents an outline for what time they can set a curfew for, but also gives students the understanding that there is a curfew that they must abide by and also gives them the time they need to do homework.

When taking into account the information provided by the county, and a WebMD article, it’s clear parents should create a reasonable curfew for their students. The WebMD article encourages parents to set curfews because curfews keep teens safe and teach them time management, self-control, and responsibility. Local laws are important, however, it is also important for teens to have the recommended ten hours of sleep, which can be interrupted in the absence of a curfew. Therefore, parents and students should create a curfew together that follows the guidelines set by the county or create a stricter curfew that allows students to have extracurriculars.

For example, a freshman in high school will have a different curfew from a senior in high school. Teen Wire suggests a 9:00 p.m. curfew for a fifteen year old and a curfew for an eighteen year old is trickier since they are adults, but parents still should set a curfew, due to the many benefits, including teens getting enough sleep, being safe from unsafe neighborhoods, and learning how to be responsible.

An article by Your Modern Family suggests that a curfew between 8:00 pm and 8:30 pm is appropriate for a fifteen year old, and a curfew between 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm is ideal for a sixteen year old. This makes sense since most

Aaron Cantrell, AP English Language teacher, believes that curfews are important. He suggests that: “it's good for kids to have limits, and adults should use curfews to help rein in their kids.” A teen wire article supports Cantrell’s claim by suggesting that a “curfew for teens are a good idea, and they can even be a great idea when it’s done as a collaborate effort and in a way that allows them to establish boundaries, gain responsibility, and an increasing level of trust as they’ve proven themselves to be responsible.”

Cantrell

However, an article from The Campbell Collaboration suggests that “juvenile curfews are ineffective at reducing crime and victimization.” According to Platform for Youth Justice, juvenile crime did not reduce when a curfew was put in place in New Orleans. Although curfews may not reduce crime, curfews can help students have more time to sleep.

But research, ultimately, shows varied results: a study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley included 54 US cities with 180,000 or more residents and claims that curfew laws such as the one set by the county helps reduce youth arrests by 10%. This also contributes to an overall benefit for curfews to be a part of teens' lives.

According to a student survey 66.7% percent of PRHS students indicate that they have a curfew. Majority of the students that took the survey have an eight or a 9:00 p.m. curfew. Students at PRHS support curfews and support their parent’s giving them a curfew.

Overall parent enforced curfews are a beneficial part of students' lives and help reduce crime, and keep students safe. In a student survey 70.4% of students agree with their parent’s curfew and 75.4% of students think that curfews are important showing that student’s at PRHS believe curfews are beneficial.

Ava Cox, 11

Aaron

DOCKED MOCK ROCK

Mock Rock was recently postponed due to a lack of participating groups. Why is this behavior prevalent in events such as this one?

by Isael Rendon, Arts and Entertainment Editor

Dazzling lights, murmuring shadows, and a beating heart- yet Mock Rock is having trouble beating the odds to keep a tradition alive. Bearcats seem to be more timid participating in school events such as Mock Rock. That begs the question: Why aren’t Bearcats willing to perform? The answer lies in commitment as highlighted by teachers and students.

Bearcats had an opportunity to perform in a contest to win prizes such. They got the option to lip sync or perform a “mock” performance or perform a professional, thoughtout one instead.

“Because of COVID,” Jennifer Bedrosian, leadership teacher, said, ”we haven’t been able to [put so many] people in the gym for an event like that.”

Bedrosian recounts the time she attended the event saying how they had 10 groups that performed including sports teams, programs, a couple clubs, and even solo acts. In recent years, the numbers dwindled, and this year only had four solid participants signed up.

Bearcats need to be more committed to a cause. Commitment is the root to all things great; great athletes such as Michael Jordan to great minds such as Einstein. Many people think mastery starts with the first hour of practice but it actually starts with the willingness to keep the practice going for hours, days, months, and more. Current Mock Rock participants contain said commitment as seen by their willingness to stay in the competition.

Mock Rock is an event where students compete with each other with a song, dance, or skill to win a prize. It has been a staple in the high school for quite some time thanks to ASB coordinator Jennifer Bedrosian. However, 2019 was the last year that the high school hosted Mock Rock. This year’s Mock Rock event has been pushed back leading to groups pushing their performances back such as the Dance class postponing their performance until May.

Senior Gabe Olivo is a performer and player who considered Mock Rock, but couldn’t due to time and commitment. He attributes the drop in participation to four things: a lack of time, lack of commitment, the chemistry in a group, and stage fright. Numbers dwindle from at least one of these four things, said Olivo.

“...You see a good amount of commitment issues…[and] It’s been prevalent in Cuesta Winds…[one by one] the [members] leave without any warning or anything at all.” Olivo said The four contributors to a lack of participation are true, yet they all dwindle into the lack of commitment category.

HAVING THAT TIGHT SCHOOL COMMUNITY NOT ONLY UPLIFTS YOU AS A PERSON, BUT IT ALSO MAKES YOU PASSIONATE FOR YOU AND YOUR SCHOOL.

ADRIANA AGUILAR

“We were hoping for eight to ten [this year], but we ended up with about four solid groups, yet even those groups were busy and rushed to get it together,” Bedrosion said.

Senior cheerleader Adriana Aguilar is a person of commitment, making time for sports, clubs, and extracurriculars. One such commitment being Mock Rock and her cheer team. Aguilar ascribes commitment to organization.

“I try to spread my time out and try to make sure that when I commit to something I know that I’m not interfering with something else.” said Aguilar,”I have a calendar at home and I put sticky notes of my schedule.”

On the contrary to Olivo’s contributors, Bedrosian says commitment is the only factor inhibiting a performer.

”I think you can make time for anything that you want to make time for…[it’s] a choice for me. You’re only going to do [something] with people that you like…so your chemistry is there. I could see stage fright [being a reason], but when you’re with your friends, being goofy comes a lot easier.”

Covid-19 was an experience that inhibited many people’s lives, especially students’ attention to commitment. “The number of students tested decreased by approximately 6 percent from 2019 to 2022 and varied by grade level,” - PACE (Policy Analysis for California Education). Bedrosian hopes this lack of commitment will fade with time.

Bedrosian has stated that she will postpone the Mock Rock event until March or February or a possible later date to hopefully gain more attention for students to participate and this plan will work. With more traction and advertising, Mock Rock will reach student hearts and minds which will then lead them to participate in the event. Mock Rock is separated into two categories; one for the Mock and one for the Rock. Seeing this category distinction, Mock Rock will surely increase in student participation.

1,000 Hours = MASTERY

THE KEY TO SUCCESS IS

GABRIEL OLIVO JENNIFER BEDROSIAN ADRIANA AGUILAR

2019 Mock Rock (GilAsaGym) : Particpants of the 2019 Mock Rock line up after competing

2019 Synchronized Swimmers (Gil Asa ) : Paso Robles Waterppolo team performs a dance number for the 2019 Mock Rock event

-4 CURRENT GROUPSTHERE’S STILL TIME TO JOIN

BEAR-KITTENING AROUND

by Kayla Degnan, Indepth Editor

Dew sits on the slides, jungle gym, and toys left on the campus within a campus.

Future Bearcats learn in a classroom, taught by current Bearcats interested in fields involving children. Very few get the opportunity to become a director of the Childhood development pathway and organize curriculums for these BearKittens, but senior and teacher Casey Clements’s talents have enabled her to pursue this journey.

Clements has been a part of the developmental pathway all four years of high school, leading with confidence while also gaining trust from the children, facilitating them becoming more comfortable in their learning environment.

“You never know the situation that may be going on at home,” Clements said. “Preschool may be one of the safe spaces they (the children) can fall back to and having a teacher that is positive, and has empathy and patience is just some of the qualities that can make a child’s day.”

She became interested in working with children for two reasons, having a big family with lots of little cousins, and even a little brother. She liked playing that role of a person they could look up to with the second being Bearcat Alumni Cece Martinez having a greater influence on how she takes her lessons.

Clements believes that the environment is the third teacher in the classroom, that it depends on how she and the other directors create it is just as important as anything else. Taking a step back to look at the situation from all sides is key to having a successful day for the kittens.

“I feel like being a director, not only are you helping, like the beginning, courses that are just learning about this stuff, but directors helping each other because someone may have a different

outlook on something else than you might.” Clements said.

The art station is what Clements enjoys planning the most for the children, not just crayons and markers but with creative and interactive play to stimulate their minds while also having fun. She has created in the past colored ice that the children can play with and color… with only one eating incident.

“She has had an interest in planning curriculum from early on and took a great deal of initiative. I think that really caught my eye,” said Brenda Matthysse,

Matthysse runs the development program, seeing many Bearcats and kittens come and go through the doors of 110. Matthysse supported Clements to pursue new opportunities involving the children while learning more about herself along the way. New developments for Clements include being a member of SkillsUSA. The program had the participants read a children’s book of their choice and read as if they were reading it to the children in a classroom setting.

“Weirdly, I can relate to Alice because using your imagination, and realizing that things might not always go your way. But how you deal with them will affect your future.” Clements said about the book she chose, Alice the Fairy by David Shannon.

As graduation nears, and with Clement’s passion deeply ingrained for working with children, she plans on studying social work and then from there become a child welfare specialist. She strives to become a better person and Bearcat everyday.

“The best way possible, you have to work on yourself before you try to mold and shape someone else, especially as the children are at a young age. It’s very important to stay positive and maintain a good attitude at all times. Your reaction will affect the children no matter how small it is.”

CASEY IS A VERY INTENTIONAL PERSON AND THAT HAS HELPED MAKE HER A STRONG DIRECTOR AT BEARKITTEN.

BRENDA MATTHYSSE DIRECTOR

Senior Casey Clements inspires a new generation of Bearkitten teachers as director, helping to educate and teach, while facing new challenges

AMANDA GARDNER: A FARM OF HER OWN

From early morning classes to late nights in the barn, Amada Gardner has dedicated her life to the agricultural community

The brisk morning sky stretches across the farm as she juggles buckets of feed in each hand. One scoop to each pig, and her day of devotion has begun. Through teaching new generations to raising her own piglets, she has spent every day since she was a child contributing to growing the minds of agriculture. Teacher Amanda Gardner balances her time well and efficiently grows the local FFA with her pride in farming and producing. After a long day of teaching animal science here at PRHS she goes home to a farm of her own. Here she raises her own pigs at Gardner Family Farms.

Gardner has used her life time experience with agriculture as a way to reconnect with students and teach them in new ways. Gardner has provided the FFA with rich material and advanced curriculum.

“It makes me really proud to see my students succeed in college and in the workforce after my class. Some of them are still contacting me for advice on their students and animal projects. I still feel like I’ve been influential to them”, Gardner said. This strong will towards agriculture was something Gardner grew up with.

“I think agriculture is a big picture and my family raised livestock, they farmed, so from day one I have been involved,” Gardner said.

Gardner describes her teaching style as hands-on and personally paced. She acknowledged the different paces students take to reach succsess and gives extra time for those who need more help. Gardner teaching ethics are inspired from her high school AG teacher, Mr.Clement, who she later had the privilege of teaching with for multiple years before his retirment.

Time management is a big obstacle for a woman with so many tasks. With limited hours in the day Gardner says she must priortize feeding and maintaining the pigs, preparing lessons for animal science, and staying on top of after

by Cassidy Heer, People Co-Editor

school activities related to FFA. But on top of all these projects raising hogs have always been the center of passion.

“I think I not only loved it from the beginning but I maintained the interest and love and passion for raising pigs,” Gardner said. Her personal journey in Agriculture started when raising a pig each year through Paso Robles FFA and 4-H. From here, Gardner was able to invest in selling pigs, allowing her to sell over 100 a year on average. After noticing her interests, Gardner’s family began putting their family pigs in her name to start her official business between the ages 10 and 11. This led to what is now known as Gardner Family Farms.

Gardner’s pig farm is 50 acres and usually holds around 40 pigs at once. Their farm is made up of mostly crossbreds and a selection of purebreds. This hard work put towards raising pigs has also helped her teach many lessons in the classroom. One of Gardners favorite lessons is in the suturing unit. Suturing is the proccess of stitching, Gardners experience with caring animals back to health has prepared her to teach students to work with different instruments and tools.

Personal experiences with time management, equipment such as tractors, farrowing crates and air conditioning systems provide a helpful hand-in her swine production and creating knowledgeable lessons to tackle in the classroom. Having a farm of her own has brought new opportunities for teaching material.

“I have filmed myself in my farrowing barns with the pigs and around our barns and facilities and then used those videos in the classroom,” Gardner said. “I incorporated a lot of what I do at home and brought it into the classroom.”

“I definitely think her pig farm is a big help towards our FFA chapter,” animal sceince student and sophomore Alexis Hickey said. “It shows that she has first hand experience and that she takes pride in what she does.”

“I am passionate about animal science and teaching it. I know there are a lot of kids who enjoy my class and gravitate towards me and my class,” Gardner said. “I think our department is very diverse, and I appreciate that. I love being a part of a department with so many pathways and avenues for students to gravitate towards based on their interests and what they want to do someday.”

OVER 100 PIGS SOLD PER YEAR

IT MAKES ME REALLY PROUD TO SEE MY STUDENTS SUCCEED IN COLLEGE AND IN THE WORKFORCE AFTER MY CLASS.

AMANDA GARDNER

Walking along the crowded high school halls. Accidentally bumping into people you don’t know, in hopes that they brush it off. There are 2,125 students on campus, whose actions are unpredictable. You hope that at least a handful of them will be kind, but you can’t be 100% sure. The warm feeling of getting acknowledged or complimented always feels nice, but the habit of doing so has died out throughout the years. However, junior Dakota Rickerd, has made sure to keep that alive by trying to make sure he’s kind to anyone he encounters. Regardless of what type of day he’s had, Rickerd will not fail to put a smile on someone’s face. And it is people like Rickerd, that “make this world a better place”.

A student’s junior year is typically described as one of the hardest years in their high school career. Yet, Rickerd is able to go through the year and maintain what is important to him, especially hobbies. His friends mention that he’s always doing something he loves. Some of his hobbies are photography, playing any musical instrument (especially guitar), and hanging out with friends. Balancing things like work, school, relationships, and hobbies are challenging enough. Apart from balancing his social life and education, Rickerd manages to keep an optimistic mindset, no matter what situation he’s in. “I try my best to make people smile.” He’ll make some jokes, compliment people, make others feel included, and say hi to people to try to make others happy. “I believe that everyone deserves to be treated with love. I think that’s the biggest thing that’s missing in the world

BIG SMILE, BIGGER HEART:

DAKOTA RICKERD

Spotlighting a student who puts kindness above everything

by Michelle Rosas, Web director

nowadays,” he said.

Besides his positive mindset, Rickerd mentions that a big reason why he is very kind is because he grew up around positive people and in a positive environment with his family. “I believe in God. My whole family always has. So that definitely puts a moral push for me being who I am,” he said. He is also a leader in the Fellowship Christian Athletes (FCA) club on our campus.

Junior Bennett Reed describes Rickerd as a very “down to Earth guy” who always has a smile on his face. “Everybody has their bad days, but you barely ever see him like that. He’s a super awesome dude. He’s always nice and always smiling. I don’t really see him not smiling,” he said. Family and friends mean so much to him. He will always make room on his schedule to hangout with his loved ones and he mentions that he will always check up on the people he really cares about, even people he’s not really close with.

Behind his “big heart” and contagious smile, Rickerd says that at one point he had six jobs. He mentions that if one of his jobs or sports doesn’t necessarily permit him to take some days off, he will have to depart from them. His take on this is that “he can work for the rest of his life, but right now he should be spending time with his friends and family.” Rickerd comes from a family of hard workers and says he started working at 12 years old to make some extra money. Since then, he’s been working non-stop and currently has three jobs. He works at a golf course, and has two businesses. He works on real estate, which he got from his mother who also works in the same field. And he has a landscaping business he’s been working on since the age of twelve.

As mentioned earlier, Rickerd has a “big heart”, he uses the money from his extra jobs not on himself, but on his friends. He enjoys helping people. He mentions that a big reason why he has so many jobs is so that he can use the money on his friends and the people he loves. “I believe that people should strive to want to help other people,” he said.

A PEER’S PERSPECTIVE

BENNET REED

Reed has been a friend of Rickerd’s since kindergarten. They met in kindergarten and developed a close bond. In middle school, they drifted apart. However, when they both entered high school they’re friendship became stronger.

Reed mentions that they started reconnecting their sophomore year in an engineering class. “We got to hang out a lot, which I think that made us come back again,” he said. He says that they are pretty close and try to hangout every week or every weekend. Even though Rickerd is a busy guy, he will always make time to hangout with his friends.

I HAVE A FEW PEOPLE THAT I CONSIDER LIKE BROTHERS OR SOMETHING TO ME. HE’S DEFINITELY ONE OF THEM,” REED, 11

I BELIEVE THAT EVERYONE DESERVES TO BE TREATED WITH LOVE. I THINK THAT’S THE BIGGEST THING THAT’S MISSING IN THE WORLD NOWADAYS.

DAKOTA RICKERD

SENIOR BUCKET LIST

3 seniors get back together for the first time since elementary days — a bucket list item for one of them

TIME IS RUNNING OUT, SENIORS

With graduation four months away we asked seniors what they wanted to do before they graduate to complete their senior bucket list. Senior Adriana Aguilar said that she wanted to reconnect with her elementary school friends, Denia Aispuro (12) and Chloe Medvedoff (12), so we decided to make that happen.

After six years of not being with each other at school, Aguilar, Aispuro, and Medvedoff reunited. They shared the wonderful laughs they had as children (at ASES at Winifred Pifer Elementary School) as they painted the hard and dry surface of rocks. They met in ASES around second and third grade. Aispuro and Medvedoff became friends before Aguilar joined ASES.

“They taught me to not be afraid of showing my true personality. They made me unafraid of what people have to say about me,” Aguilar said.

From being children who spun around trees as they held hands, they plan to continue their education by going to a four year university or community college. Aguilar hopes to attend UCSC or UC Davis with majoring in Environmental Science to later become a Park Ranger for the National Parks Services. Aispuro has the dream of becoming an artist and Medvedoff will be attending Cuesta College to try to figure out what she wants to pursue.

Aguilar’s bucket list gets completed with many laughs, giggles, and childhood memories with Aispuro and Medvedoff in a provided video viewable right.

by Ana

Lopez and Naomi Velasco, Carmesi Co-Editors WATCH

spread love by watching this one-of-a-kind series!

TESTIMONIALS

Day 1 Seniors Seniors Morgan Meidam and Leo Kemp sit down for the headphones challenge, where they are deafened by blaring music as they try to answer questions!

Day 2 Couple of over two years Logan Lewis and Megan Pagnini — should we say Lewis? — compete in The Newlyweds Game where they must correctly answer trivia about each other.

Day 3 Coworkers Kellen Sharlotta and Brooke Lewis create and decorate chocolate-covered strawberries as they share behind-the-scenes ice cream scooping stories.

Day 4 Crimsonites Miguel Muniz and Kalani Gaviola are more than just Co-Editors in Chief. They are actually our couple playing the WHO game in this episode. Find out WHO takes the longest to get ready, WHO gets better grades, and more!

Day 5 Our beloved Prom King and Queen Dennis McNerney and Lucy Pritchard are met with the challenge of drawing each other in under five minutes. How well do they really know each other? Watch to find out!

Day 6 The situationship of Landon Rivers and Sofia Gelos takes its next steps: can he produce a full glam makeup routine on her?

Day 7 Casi Murdock and Tyler Luna, a senior couple on campus, are given only three minutes to write a love poem and a love song about the other.

Day 8 Seniors Dallon Scott and Maddalyn Williams play the Valentines Chocolate Guessing Game, in which they blindly try classic chocolates

and guess the flavors.

Day 9 The Radojevic brothers, Luka and Sebi, collab on the 14 Days of Love couch for an episode of brotherly love. Learn details of the bromance between these popular siblings.

Day 10 The OG PRHS science teachers Mr. and Ms. Ewing are featured in an edition of Science Trivia— where they must ask each other test questions from their own notorious courses.

Day 11 Besties Claire Wells and Robert Serrano face the challenge of eating a donut hanging from a string with no hands. See who wins this challenge in this hilarious friendship duo.

Day 12 One of the most popular figures on campus, Coach Matt Carroll and science teacher Nicole Vengochgea team up in the NFL Football Team challenge. They must guess the NFL team based on their logos. Guess who succeeds! Hint: it’s the head football coach!

Day 13 Casi Murdock and Tyler Luna, a senior couple on, campus are given only three minutes each to write a love poem and a love song about the other.

Day 14 The 14 Days of Love creators sit down to close out the series for the last time. Sienna Ramos, Maddie Hurstak, and Kalista Peterson reveal the most popular video at the end and share the behind scenes process of everyday uploads.

IT HIGHLIGHTS A BEAUTIFUL THING CALLED LOVE. I GET SO EXCITED WHEN A NEW POST COMES OUT BECAUSE IT REALLY GETS ME IN THE SPIRIT.

IVAN ZEPEDA , 12

14 DAYS OF LOVE SHOWS BEARCATS THE INSIDES AND OUT OF COUPLES ON CAMPUS. IT’S GREAT AND BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER!

WYATT HALEY, 11

by Sienna Ramos, Madison Hurstak & Kalista Peterson

The Artificial Intelligence Invasion

by Conner Rocha, Director of Photography

As an advanced language model, ChatGPT has shown itself to be one of the most important advances in widespread in artificial intelliegence technologies. However, there is growing concern about the ethical implications of using ChatGPT and other AI language models to cheat in the school setting. While ChatGPT can provide a wealth of information and assistance to students, it can also be used to generate essays, papers, and other written assignments that can be used to cheat on assignments. Due to these discoveries by students, there has been concern across the board about the integrity of essays and written assignments that are turned in.

One way that ChatGPT can be used in school settings is to generate high quality essays, reports, and other written assignments. With its ability to analyze vast amounts of text, the chatbot has been proven to be able to take a prompt and produce a well-written piece on almost any topic in under 10 seconds.

However, this poses a serious ethical dilemma for teachers and education institutions alike: should students be allowed to use ChatGPT to cheat in their assignments, exams, and evaluations?

This is where the debates have sparked. Some believe that ChatGPT poses no threat to cheating, with arguments stating that the chatbot has no rights to the text it produces. Therefore, it does not fall under the category of plagiarism, and is not cheating. Along with that, the students have the possibilities to use it for research, as well as guiding them to write their own essay, rather than writing it themselves.

On the other hand, there are still arguments that state that using ChatGPT is still categorized as cheating. The student did not in fact write the essay, so why should they be given the same credit as one who did? Especially since it is not their work, they should also be called out for plagiarism, claiming the essay written by the bot as their own.

Other AI programs, one of the most popular being developed by the same company that produced ChatGPT, have emerged with the ability to create high quality images. This has also posed the same question of ethicality as ChatGPT. AI generated images have created issues, with some major art competitions, as well as some art classes at various schools. The debate asks whether these images are truly an example of plagiarism, or is it truly a way for students to circumnavigate the system.

So with the emergence of advanced AI language models has raised important ethical questions about the use of technology in school settings. While these tools can be incredibly useful for students and educators alike, there are concerns about the fairness, integrity, and the purpose of education in the face of these emerging technology. As such, it is important for schools and academic institutions to carefully consider the ethical implications of using AI language models and AI generated art in their curriculums, and to impliment appropriate guidelines and standards to ensure that academic evaluations remain fair and impartial.

Pros Of

by Conner Rocha, Director of Photography

Everyone has a main focus on ChatGPT right now, and that is whether or not the program is really viable for plagiarism. Every education institution is assuming that all students who use it are cheating. That is not the case for all students, though.

With this, ChatGPT is truly an extremely helpful learning tool for all range s of topics. Whether you need it to help you analyze a story, explain a difficult math problem to you, or even it can help you figure out a good thesis for your essay. It is a great tool for students to have access to. When a teacher may take hours to respond to an email, ChatGPT can help you with your problem in seconds.

As a student asks more questions, it begins to learn more about what the student is having a problem with, and begin to adapt itself to help the student more. Students can also feel more comfortable when using ChatGPT to learn, as it helps increase their focus on at home learning, and they can ask the bot questions that they may not feel comfortable asking in a classroom setting.

Building on the idea of personalized learning experiences, students will also be able to learn in a more fun and interactive way, helping to build retention of the knowledge. This is especially helpful for students who find learning in the classroom boring or difficult.

Sure, a student may be able to cheat using it, but that is a very small number of students. Classes like math don’t have to worry that hard, either, as for a student to have to manually enter an entire homework into the chatbot would most likely take more time than actually doing the homework themselves.

CHATGPT: THE NEXT COMMUNICATION, AND

by Conner Rocha, Director of Photography

ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is a pQowerful language model that generates human-like text and can be used for a wide range of tasks. It has been trained on a massive dataset of internet text, allowing it to understand and respond to a wide range of topics and questions. Its advanced language understanding capabilities make it a valuable tool in classrooms and schools, helping students improve their writing skills and gain a deeper understanding of complex subjects. That paragraph was written by ChatGPT, an open source artificial intelligence.

This new AI system, created by the San Francisco based artificial intelligence research laboratory OpenAI. Chat GPT took two years to develop based on the architecture of GPT3, the company’s previous AI model. The previous versions (GPT-2, GPT-1) required four years of development

CHATGPT

This isn’t a first of its kind technology, though, and isn’t even a major breakthrough for OpenAI. Their original AI chat system, GPT-3, is way more sophisticated than ChatGPT. GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3) has over 175 billion parameters, which requires 800 gigabytes of storage to handle, compared to ChatGPT, which only has 1.5 billion parameters, over 10 times less.

ChatGPT has seemingly exploded in popularity as of recently. Being publicly released on November 30, 2022, the program is still in the very early stages so far. With the ability to not only respond to prompts like a human, the bot can also do many things a human can do. Some of these ideas include answering questions,

composing music, writing and debugging computer code, solving complex math problems, as well as writing stories and even student essays.

Being built on so many previous models, this chatbot is the most advanced of its kind. One feature that makes it stand out is the ability to build on the original prompt. Once given a prompt to write on, it will give a sophisticated Qanswer, whether you ask it for a simple math solution or a complex research question. Then, you can ask it to elaborate, answer a similar question, or ask it for a different way to answer the original question, and with no mention of the first prompt at all, it will give you another answer based on the second prompt.

This is where the problem of cheating comes into play. As an example, ChatGPT was given a prompt taken from the AP English Language test in 2021 and told to write an essay on the topic. Given everything a student would receive on the AP test, it produced a simple, five paragraph essay on the prompt in under a minute.

The chatbot provides a clear thesis, plenty of evidence and quotes throughout the essay, and overall presents a rather strong overall essay. Based on the AP rubric, it could easily earn a four or a five on the grading scale, earning an easy sophistication point as well as three or four points under evidence and commentary.

ChatGPT was also then asked to grade itself based on the AP rubric. This is the part where teachers might actually not be against the bot. It graded the essay and gave it a four based on the AP

rubric. a full

The from had amount essay original essay With to write grade and feedback. But It’s free, website, been the chatbot poses open whatever This been UBS, two months growing took to reach There as ChatGPT

CHAT GPT STANDS UP TO

STEP: 1 STEP: 2

ChatGPT was asked to write an essay in regards to an AP style prompt. The prompt in US history, where the chatbot was given the requirements and asked to write a simple, AP style essay. Given all the information provided to it, ChatGPT provided an essay in less than ten seconds. (Note: This is different from the essay provided in the story above)

The essay included a thesis statement, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. While it may not have been perfect, the thesis was not truly defensible, instead defending a more neutral stance on Jackson. It describes a lot of points specifically on Jackson’s political career impacting people, rather than representing them, as the prompt asks for.

A new AI chat generator, called ChatGPT, has the potential to write

IS INCREDIBLY LIMITED, BUT GOOD ENOUGH AT SOME THINGS TO CREATE A MISLEADING IMPRESSION OF GREATNESS.

-SAM ALTMAN, OPEN AI CEO

Cons Of

NEXT FRONTIER IN AI

AND PLAGIARISM?

to write entire essays for students, but what else is it capable of?

solving student most the to ask it

Then, for question, all, the comes given a Language on would simple, under a plenty presents could easy evidence AP against AP

rubric. Not only did it give itself a number grade, though, but also a full lengthy paragraph explaining why it gave the score it did.

The chatbox was also asked to grade a student example response from the AP website on the same question. The student response had been given a six by the AP graders, earning the maximum amount of points for each category. The AP graders stated that the essay contained consistency and nailed every part outlined in the original thesis. ChatGPT, on the other hand? The bot graded the essay as a five, with rather similar responses to the official grade.

With these skills, it shows not only how easy it is for students to write essays using the bot, but also how easy it is for teachers to grade student essays using the bot with a relatively accurate grade and feedback.

But what is the most important part about ChatGPT, though? It’s free, for everybody. Anybody is able to head over to the OpenAI website, create an account, and begin using ChatGPT. This has been the goal for OpenAI since the beginning, as the whole idea of the chatbot was to provide free access to the entire world. This also poses a problem for schools, though, as students are able to simply open up a browser, log in, and access nearly unlimited answers to whatever is given to them.

This has been seen through the sheer amount of users that have been using ChatGPT in the previous two months. According to UBS, ChatGPT reached over 100 million users in January, barely two months after the release of the program, making it the fastest growing platform on the internet ever. For comparison, Tiktok took nine months, while Instagram took over two and a half years to reach the same number.

There is also a paid subscription of ChatGPT available. Known as ChatGPT Plus, the subscription costs $20 a month and offers a

few features over the free version. Since the chatbot often receives a lot of users at peak times, Plus plans to give subscribers priority during high times of users, as well as providing faster responses. Subscribers will also receive priority access to new features, improvements, and other parts of ChatGPT as time goes on. Of course, as promised by OpenAI, the program will still offer its free version to everybody.

ChatGPT is being fought against, though. A new program, GPTZero, is being developed by a team at Princeton University. The program is designed to take a piece of writing and detect whether it was written by ChatGPT. So far, the program is free to the public, with thousands of educators across the country already signing up to use it to help fight against ChatGPT plagiarism.

“In short, there’s so much chatgpt hype going around. Is this and that written by AI? We as humans deserve to know,” said Edward Tian, the inventor of GPTZero, in a tweet.

Using two indications, it helps determine whether the text still has that human element contained in it. It looks for perplexity within the text, if GPTZero seems to be perplexed by the text, it determines that it has more human element contained within it. It uses text generated by ChatGPT to train itself on how the AI writes its sentences, and if the sentences have a lower complexity, then it will detect it based on the sources it’s been trained on.

The other indication it will use is the variation of the sentences it is presented with. A typical human-written paragraph will have different lengths of sentences, as well as multiple variations upon grammatical and word choice. When compared to sentences written by ChatGPT, the sentences the bot produces tend to be more similar in length and variation, as well as grammatical and word choice.

TO THE COMPETITION

STEP: 3

It was then submitted to AP US History teacher, Seth Draine. Given the rubric used by AP graders for the prompt, he scored the essay in the same exact way he would as if one of his own students had written it. The overall score of the paper, graded on an A-F scale, was a B. Faults noticed by Draine included not having a defensible thesis, as well as not fully answering the prompt.

GPT

by Elise Mathers, News Director

With the intent of being a useful tool, the introduction

and rise of ChatGPT eliminates basic critical thinking skills and makes people too dependent on a robot. The over reliance of technology moves people away from critical thinking skills and takes advantage of the privilege that is a free and public education.

In a survey of over 1,000 students conducted by researchers at Study.com, 48% of students used OpenAI for an at home test or quiz, while 53% used it for essays, and 22% for essay outlines. By allowing students to cheat their way through assignments with OpenAI, any real learning is being eliminated. When it comes to testing, most students will be in circumstances where the resources they had for assignments will not be available to them during a test. The already dropping test scores will only continue to plummet because of students who haven’t taken the proper time to learn and assess the information they’re being taught. Not only is this an issue for the students, but what happens to the value of our teachers? What teacher wants to read a hundred variations of a cheated essay? If nothing is done to prevent students from using OpenAI, teachers will not be present to educate, but assess the job of a robot, many times without even knowing it.

STEP: 4

ChatGPT was then asked to grade itself, using the same rubric, and provide a response A-F. The answer it gave was also a B. Included, was a paragraph of comments about the pros and cons of the writing. Like said by Draine, the bot noticed there was no defensible thesis,and needing to give more contextualization about Jackson’s Presidency.

While 82% of college professors from the same Study. com survey had some awareness of ChatGPT, only 55% of grade school teachers did. 66% of both groups combined supported students having access to OpenAI, and 21% have used it for class assignments and teachings. We need to value our educators and students more than this and recognize that the overuse of this technology will make the job of both parties ultimately useless, putting a barrier between real teaching and learning.

Avariety of different AI art programs have entered the public eye since a boom in June 2022 with OpenAI’s Craiyon launch in beta, with the phenomenon ramping up in both popularity and controversy as time went on and the technology evolved slightly.

Throughout recorded human history, art has been seen as the pinnacle of one’s soul, the visual proof of human sentience- but with the rise of AI art, questions are arising not only about AI’s usage, but its morality, and what it means for the future of art and media.

Artificial intelligence, including AI images, are achieved through complex programing and machine learning, but to put it simply: in most modern iterations, AI art is generated via a ‘learning algorithm’ that uses prompted text or images to look for other images relating to that prompt, analyze them, and then use them to create an original image.

For many teenagers, AI art means nothing more than a popular filter on TikTok but a series of controversies have placed this phenomenon in the spotlight. AI art filters on TIkTok take images of people and instantly generate a piece of art based on it, may that be animestylized or abstract art.

One such teenager is Natalie Herrera, junior and Art Club social media director. Herrera has fostered a love of art since childhood and has used her

passion to place in several art competitions- one of which was her 2nd place at the 2022 Arte de Tiza chalk art event. She’s also an AP Studio Art student and works at Paso’s local art studio, Studios in the Park.

She originally thought AI art was “kinda cool that you could just make up whatever you wanted” using the filters, but as she explored more, she found issues with the phenomena.

She, along with many artists, expressed a concern with AI art taking jobs from human artists, and, in the process, taking the ‘life’ out of art. Such is a concern expressed by many across the art community, concerned about the loss of humanity in the art process.

“Art is supposed to be a form of emotional and creative expression,” Herrera said. “While AI can generate cool pieces of art, it will never have the meaning that artists can capture.”

Moral questions have been hotly debated without much evidence of a definite conclusion being found, but there’s also the problem of what images are being used in the AI art datasets. AI art will collect images for a dataset and create totally orginal images, but they have to get these images from somewhere. Artists have raised concerns about their art is being stolen and used for these datasets without being credited or paid.

AI ART: AN IMAGE AI FUNNIES:

ART IS SUPPOSED TO BE A FORM OF EMOTIONAL AND CREATIVE EXPRESSION WHILE AI CAN GENERATE COOL PIECES, IT WILL NEVER HAVE THE MEANING THAT ARTISTS CAN CAPTURE. NATALIE HERRERA, 11

I’ve always wanted to see a volcano!” “Achoo!” “Um, volcanos can get sick?”

As textual AI reaches new heights in usage, AI art reaches similarly popular, but controversial peaks by

Kalani Gaviola, Editor-in-Chief

Such has been the target of a lawsuit against popular AI tools Stable Diffusion and Midjourney, where a trio of artists criticized the programs for their, and many online artists’, art being used for datasets without their consent. While some argue AI Art is covered under fair use, the general consensus is that it’s a new and complex issue that experts predict will have to be settled by courts.

Proponents of AI art, however, argue that AI art can be an important tool to human artists as, instead of something taking artist’s jobs, something to be used as inspiration for the betterment of artist’s creativity.

OF CONTROVERSITY IS AI ART “REAL ART”?

But with AI art already winning competitions and beating human competitors despite the supposed lack of ‘meaning’ behind the pieces, more questions are arising: Does the viewer or the creator define the meaning of art? If it’s the viewer, what separates AI art from any other piece of media? Is art good because of the hard work put into it or can art generated in mere seconds have great merit? Is this fascination with AI art in part due to our generation’s obsession with fast gratification and attention?

No matter one’s individual answers to these questions the truth is undeniable: AI art is coming, and it’s only in its infancy. Our society will have to answer these definitely soon enough, and not everyone will be happy with what they are.

“Artists… put hours and hours of time, efforts, and mistakes into their pieces (to make them) the best they can be,” Herrera said. “It feels undermining to compare human expression to basically a robot.”

45.4%YES

43.1%NO

11.6% UNSURE

THE FOLLOWING COMIC STRIP WAS CREATED SOLELY USING AI (CHAT GPT FOR THE SCRIPT, AI IMAGES FROM MIDJOURNEY)

never thought I’d feel bad for a volcano.”

THE ETHICS OF AI

by Miguel Muniz, Editor In Chief

Your teacher caught you! They figured out you used Chat GPT to write your english final and now your entire grade is at jeopardy for academic maleficence, or is it? There is no mention of using a chatbot to assist in the writing of your essay in the assignment directions or even in the course syllabus for that matter.

As the power and availability of artificial intelligence ramps up, with online resources such as Chat GPT becoming increasingly accessible, our country and school district has not passed or made rules and regulations to match the recent increases in technology’s ability to create work that seems distinctly human. The legal questions of who made something or owns something made by an AI is still undecided. In order to see into the future of Ai regulation we must look into the past: monkey.

Photographer David Slater traveled to Indonesia, befriended a group of macaques (monkeys), and left a camera in a position where the monkeys could use the cameras to photograph themselves. Eventually one of the monkeys would take a photo of themselves and Slater would publish “his” photos.

Slater would later file a lawsuit against wikipedia for using his photos without consent or compensation. The United States Copyright Office ruled that works created by a non human cannot be copyrighted.

This precedent would show that the owner of an AI does not own what the AI produces. Furthermore the case also concluded that there was a case to be made for the monkey’s ownership of the art but constitutionally animals do not have any rights to own property so no decision needed to be made if there was a decision in favor of the monkey this would presumably mean the users of an AI own the rights to the products it creates. In this metaphor, humanity would be the

monkeys. Therefore, awat from the court case legal disputes can a teacher fail you for plagiarism in spite of the legal precedent?

“The essay you’re supposed to write, you’re supposed to write… it’s plagiarism if you copy and paste something from anywhere online,“ Michael Godsey, assistant principal, stated. He argued that using the chatbot to write an essay is no different than asking a friend to write an essay for you. Godsey clarified using it to help you with an assignment such as a research project, to drastically shorten the amount of time that it would take to complete it, was a legitimate way of doing an assignment but you should specify somewhere that your sources and information were given by whatever AI you’ve used.

Godsey also made it clear that although he had strong opinions they could be swayed very easily as he has been wrong about technology’s impact in the past.

It should be noted that no decision has been made by our school board and no rules specifically addressing AI have been discussed in a PRJUSD board meeting.

Ethically, everyone seems to have different opinions on what is morally right or wrong about using artifical intelligence, like Godsey some claim that using it as a tool is something that should not only be allowed, but encouraged by staff.

It can be argued that teaching students to do less work falicates not only laziness, but harms learning. Use of the artifical intelligence in work is often hard to trace, though certain ChatGPT “catchers” are available, though often at a price. Princeton student Edward Tian, computer science major and senior, developed an app called GPTZero that gives users an idea how how likely a text was generated using ChatGPT. It is determined measuring “perplexity” since AI text is often less complex and “burstiness”, as humans vary sentence length more than AI most of the time. The app has been proven to be relatively efficient when tested in a demonstration video. Currently, the website for GPTZero has a product waitlist and pitches itself as “designed for educators”. There is a question, however, how this technogly will aganist AI as it continues to improve.

As it stands now nothing has changed and you are free to use the chatbot as a tool for research and workshopping together ideas; it just must be cited and treated the same as any other online resource system as to the ownership of an AI.

Schools and governments have not set rules and guidelines to keep up with the growth in artificial intelligence’s ability 94% Have never used GPT

MY BELIEFS ARE STRONG BUT THEY CAN BE CHANGED AT ANYTIME. IT’S ALL SO NEW AND I’VE BEEN WRONG BEFORE.

MICHAEL GODSEY, ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Michael Godsey

TEACHERS:

WHAT THEY THINK

How are teachers going to control the new site that is writing essays for students? With new developments in the upcoming website Chat GPT, what are teachers going to do about students using it.

Chat GPT is an online website that has an AI generated written response to any question you ask. Use of the site is increasing in our schools, begging the question of, what will teachers do in response to this upcoming tool? It will answer to its best ability and will provide sources if you ask for them. This website is a very useful tool for school, making it easier to understand any questions about a prompt or even a difficult math problem. With it being a useful tool it is also easy for students to take advantage of the website for written homework assignments.

“I think, I think in the end, if I’m gonna look at my crystal ball, it’s gonna widen the gap between the haves and the have nots because the kids who use it as a supplement for thinking are going to find thinking even more difficult because the brain has a use it or lose it proposition.”

Cantrell

This could become a very big issue for the school district and teachers having an AI generated response to questions that are meant to make the students think a certain way. School is made to make students think and problem solve on their own. Giving them a tool that does that for them is taking that vital learning curve away from them. The counter to this argument is, for the AI to generate a response you need to type in the question bar what you want the AI to talk about or solve. So, the user of the AI needs to formulate all of their ideas and compose the questions and key points for the AI and have a general idea of what it is going to write about.

To learn is to use resources that require you to think. Furthermore, Mr. Cantrell thinks the use of ChatGPT, coaligns with cheating but is on the students to decide whether it’s wrong or not for their education.

“I think we’re trying to learn how to learn. So if you outsource your learning to a computer, you’re not learning how to learn. And that’s where the cheating would come in. But again, as my coaches would say, back in the day, you’re only cheating yourself.”

On the other hand there is the thought of it being a tool and the AI helping students to learn and giving them another useful tool to help in school and also outside of school. For the chat to work and give the results desired the central and main idea needs to come from the user of the program. Meaning the user has to type the thing they want the chat to talk about into the chat bar and give the AI guidelines and ideas to talk about and around the central idea of what you want the chat to talk about.

“If you just ask it to write a paper on World War One, for example,

you’re going to get a well written essay, but it’s not going to have the same scope as if you put it in. I want World War One, focusing on you know, the different causes that got the war to happen with particular emphasis on Great Britain. Right. So it still does require a little bit of that, you know, human input, to get the quality that a lot of people, I think, are concerned about.” - Askew

by Jakob Baier, Sports Photografer

In Askews side of the argument it can write the paper and do it for you, but there is no real meaning or human part of the paper and it doesn’t add the human aspect of human touch that can be understood when read. He and many other teachers would be able to distinguish the papers from humans and AI. The AI may give all of the correct information but it cant construct the information in a human manner and make it flow well when read.

From personal experience, chat GPT is a very useful tool making the life of the student a lot easier and giving another resource for use in school.

Looking back a year ago and thinking of a site that gives accurate and useful information to you with just a couple sentences of input, would be amazing to have. Now it is here and it is ready to be used for the tasks you ask it to do.

For the future there are the unknown limits of AI and none knows what it is truly capable of and how it will work. It has its own thinking and its own way of processing information, making it very versatile and adapting programs for whatever you need it to do. This is a cool and useful tool now but in the future and currently it is scary how much and how accurate of information it can give you with very little input on the program.

What are teacher going to do about the new AI systems and, are they concerned.

IT DEPENDS ON HOW THIS SCHOOL DISTRICT IS GOING TO REACT TO IT ... RIGHT WHERE THEY’RE HAVING STUDENTS YOU KNOW, FIGURE OUT THE BEST WAY TO CRAFT THE ESSAY.

RAYAN ASKEW

D

EDICANDO CANCIONES E AMOR

Estudiantes de PRHS dedican canciones en el lenguanje romatico de español

por Naomi Velasco, Camesi Editor

CANCIONES MAS POPULARES

1 2 3

Enamorándonos con el sonido de un instrumento es lo que la música nos hace hacer. La música nos hace enamorarnos con la letra y con la gente con quien estamos.

La adrenalina se nos sube y no podemos parar de movernos teniendo el latido tan fuerte de nuestro corazón cuando nos enamoramos con el sonido de un instrumento es lo que nos hace la música. Cuando dediquemos una canción a alguien tú estás compartiendo la manera que te sientes con otra persona y les puede hacer sentir bien al de la canción y sobre ti. Estudiantes no son tan diferentes y es fácil encontrar adolescentes con quienes quieren compartir canciones con alguien especial.

Estudios nos han enseñado que la música puede causar un sentimiento de amor, el sentimiento que nos hace querer compartir una canción con alguien especial.

por Psychology Today nos dice cómo la música puede causar dopamina en el cerebro que te hace sentir bien. Un estudiante anónimo dice que la música es una manera fantástica de qué una persona puede decir lo que están sintiendo sin palabras. También dice que hay diferentes tipos de canciones, unas más suaves que otras pero no importa qué tipo de canción es pues escuchar el sentimiento.

No solo la música puede causar un sentimiento de amor pero la música en español es más romántica según “Romantic languages” por Marius Sala.

Ivan Cornejo

Kevin Kaarl

ARTISTAS MAS POPULARES 1 2 3

Eslabón Armado

La canción puede que tenga un ritmo que llegue y empecemos a pensar en alguien y querer compartir esa canción con alguien corazón a corazón. “La música es algo muy importante en el amor. A mí me gusta la mayoría de canciones que sean de amor porque me ayudan a sentir ese amor,” dice Miraldy Ángeles (10).

Aunque muchos estudiantes no saben siempre por qué.

El artículo de Science of Music and Love dice qué estudios de la Universidad de McGill quedó citados

Después de hablar con más de 30 estudiantes los artistas más populares de canciones fueron, Eslabón Armado, Ivan Cornejo y Kevin Kaarl. Las canciones más populares eran Mi Otra Mitad por Danny Lux, Vámonos a Marte por Kevin Kaarl y Hasta La Muerte por Estabón Armado e Ivan Cornejo. Algo que estos artistas son todos tienen en común es que todos son nuevos artistas y no sólo eso pero también tienen un ritmo en la canción que es más despacio que puede, nos puede enseñar más emoción.

La música sobre todo es algo de amor y con emociones especialmente en español porque es un lenguaje más romántico. Muchos de los de antes de qué Orishas escuchan en canciones de amor en español.

ENGLISH SUMMARY: Students all over PRHS listen to romantic music. Music can convey a loving emotion when listening. Studies from the University of McGill state how music creates dopamine that then makes you feel well. Students at PRHS have confirmed how music can covey an emotion that makes them feel good and feel love. “Music does play a big part in love. l like most of the songs written about love just help to be able to feel the love,” stated Miraldy Angeles (10). We decided to ask students what songs they would dedicate to a special someone, but we decided to do it in Spanish, one of the most romantic languages. After interviewing students, popular donated artists emerged: Establon Armado, Ivan Cornejo, and Kevin Kaarl. Some of the most popular songs were Mi Otra Mitad by Danny Lux, Vámonos a Marte by Kevin Kaarl and Hasta la Muerte by Eslabón Armado and Ivan Cornejo. Music is something that overall conveys love and emotions especially in Spanish because of it being a romantic language. Students all over PRHS listen to love songs in Spanish.

Hasta la Muerte by Eslabón Armado and Ivan Cornejo

Vamonos a Marte by Kevin Kaarl

Mi Otra Mitad by Danny Lux

Hasta la Muerte por Ivan Cornejo y Establon Armado

Miraldy Angeles, 10

FEAST YOUR FAVORITES

by Nolan Severson, Review Editor

Starting with Wendy’s, we dove in with one of the generic menu items, a simple burger and fries. While the fries were a solid 7.5 out of 10, the cheeseburgers lacked flavor. There was nothing that stood out, which brought Wendy’s down to a 5 overall.

Taco Bell had potential. The Baja Blast made them a favorite, then tragedy struck, sebi found a hair in his quesadilla, even though the quesadilla wasn’t that good to start and lacking large amounts of flavor, the hair made them an instant zero for Sebastian, but because of the baja blast. I bumped them up to a 2.

Finally we tried Jack in the Box, a personal favorite. The freshly cracked egg and slightly-fresh bacon made for a delicious medley of flavors giving Jack in the box a solid 9. Being one of the few places serving breakfast 24 hours out of the day, they have established themselves in our list of favorites.

Scan QR code to watch Review Bro Video

Aswitch in palate, being connoisseurs of pizza, we were particularly excited about pizza and extremely well fitted to judge the flavors. We tried Fattes Pizza, one of the few pizza places in all of Paso, it was a good overall meal. The cheese was good, the sauce tasted authentic. The only problem was that it was a touch greasy. But still a solid 6 out of ten overall.

Student Review:

ELECTIVE AVENUE

BEARKITTENS

Developmental Psychology in Children (DE)

Child Development (DE)

Careers in Education (DE)

Practicum in Education and Training (DE)

On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, students find themselves in the preschool where they are actively engaged with the children. Students will find themselves playing games, reading books, participating in experiments, and bonding with both bear kittens and teachers. “I think students should consider taking the Bearkittens elective because children encourage you to use your imagination and it’s awesome to watch them grow and become unique individuals.” said Junior Kacie Callahan. A variety of skill sets are acquired from taking the class, such as communication, creativity, language, leadership, and patience. Students are not just spending time with the children, but additionally partaking in classwork.

Culinary Arts 1

Culinary Arts 2

Culinary Arts is a class that not only teaches students the fundamentals of cooking, but also helps build important skills. The class takes up two periods of a students’ schedule and requires them to go off campus to a separate building. “It provides you with the skills you need for a culinary career, and additionally teaches you how to run a kitchen, time management, and working with others,” said Junior Logan Carr. Culinary is not an easy class, there are many aspects to running a kitchen and it is easy to lose composure quickly. While in the kitchen, students are constantly working and are susceptible to stress. While it is difficult at times, the class is still full of activities any with a love for food or cooking will enjoy. From making banana bread from scratch to making four entrees in twenty minutes, culinary may be the perfect elective for anyone learning or pursuing cooking.

PEER COMMUNICATIONS

Interested in learning about the mind and making the world a better place? Peer Communications may be right down your alley. “Peer Communications is a class where we learn a lot about the mind and how it works. We learn about how traumas affect people as they grow up and how we can respond to certain situations and get out of toxic ones,” Senior Kaila Jones.

Peer Communications does a variety of activities and teaches students how to properly handle serious situations. For example, students will be assigned partners, where one student gives a scenario and the other student who is acting as a peer communicator must talk the student through the situation and boost their spirits. If helping people and making campus more safe and friendly, consider peer communications on your elective sheet.

by Sebi Radojevic: Poli-sci Editor

WELDING

Agriculture Welding 1 (DE)

Agriculture Welding 2 (DE)

Agriculture Welding 3 (DE)

Agriculture Welding 4

If you’re more interested in The PRHS Ag Department, welding is one of the most outstanding agriculture electives. Welding teaches Bearcats the fundamentals of the art throughout its 4 offered programs. “You learn the basics in Welding one, and I recommend that class because it’s a lot of fun and it lets you know if you want to actually keep going with it,” Junior Landon Rivers said.

From stick welding to building barbecues, the welding program can benefit beginners and intermediate welders. A fun class that can be pursued after school as a career, Welding could be the elective path for any Bearcat.

Allow Crimson to present four diverse electives at the school that may be a right fit for you

I THINK IT JUST OPENS PEOPLE’S EYES TO SOMETHING THAT’S A LOT MORE THAN WHAT IT SEEMS LIKE. LUCY PRITCHARD, 12

Kacie Callahan (left)

Logan Carr (Center) Landon Rivers (Right)

RIMSON LOSET C

In need of clothes? Three students work together to found the Crimson closet aimed to provide students and community members with free clothing

by Serenity Wulfing, EIC

Three students, one idea, and one mission create a buoyant boutique in Bearcat territory. The Crimson Closet is a donation-based clothing store opening in March to benefit Paso Robles High School students and the community.

Ava Cox, Campbell Sinton, and Audrey Dawes are juniors in the CTE program; Business. They. collectively founded the Crimson Closet, which was just a community service project for Skills USA and soon turned into something bigger.

“Our Mission is to collect gently used clothing and provide a space on campus for community members to shop with no cost,” Cox said.

This boutique is a safe place where

students can shop for free without feeling embarrassed or ashamed for needing clothes. Their primary source of communication is Instagram and it’s their platform to display their store. With only a year and a half left in their high school careers, they hope that the Crimson Closet will be carried through generations at PRHS and it will soon be run by Business practicum. It will be open on weekdays at lunch for students and reopened on weekends for the rest of the community.

“Donations are being accepted right now in the office for this cause, so if you have any contributions please drop them off,” Sinton said.

SPARE OR SECOND HEIR

by Kayla Degnan, Indepth Editor

The royal family, considerably the most famous family in the world, has people everywhere turning heads for a variety of things: talking about the latest edition to the family or what the newest scandal is. But when the secrets of life are revealed to the public from the previous 3rd in line to the throne speaks in regards to his life: how does a girl who is just as nosy about the royal family as most take the book? Questions have been asked, however, about both the timing and the stories told inside the memoir. With many speculating that the book was released after the death of his grandmother as to not put shame unto her. With the late Queen helping to raise the two princes of England after their mother Princess Diana of Wales died.

With Harry “airing the dirty laundry” of the royal family the memoir became part of a bigger controversy with the people.

The memoir focuses on three main parts in his life: growing up while facing the past that he navigated, his time (about 10 years) in the British Military, specifically the army, and his meeting of his now wife Megan Markle.

Harry discusses the ups and downs that he has experienced growing up in what most would say was a privileged household. However, Harry does reference that of his late mother, Lady Diana Spencer, and his thoughts on how the media treated her just as they treat Markle. He also alludes to the trauma that he has experienced due to his mothers death constantly being brought up over and over again, never fully being able to grieve. Overall the memoir brings emotional and personal experiences to the full front of the world’s public, I feel that with that Harry seemed to be brave enough to share, to bring more humanity towards what the royal family has experienced, and to remember that they themselves are human too. I would give this book a 3/5 for myself. Some of the pacing parts seemed weird, and at points some stories, I felt, didn’t necessarily need to be included.

The Duke of Sussex revealed his memoir after the late Queen Elizabeth II death, giving the public an inside look into the family that the world is obsessed with

OUR MISSION IS TO COLLECT GENTLY USED CLOTHING AND PROVIDE A SPACE ON CAMPUS FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO SHOP WITH NO COST AVA COX, 11

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TEENS HIGH ON DOPE-AMINE

Social Media leads to an endless cycle of dopamine in the brain, especially in teens

Getting on your phone, opening tik tok, there you go: stuck for hours on end scrolling into an empty abyss. Each video is like a drug stimulating your brain into a mental high. The chemical transmitting this happy feeling is called dopamine. Constantly receiving notifications on social media, flooding your phone with feedback of your posts can increase your dopamine levels to create a cycle of addiction. Like drugs, this high that you are creating leads your brain to desire the feeling of pleasure that dopamine releases into your brain. Especially for teens, this addiction can be dangerous. It leads to feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression when your dopamine is not releasing that feeling of pleasure into your brain. Your brain craves the feeling so much that you can’t stop yourself from scrolling through social media.

students.

by Braydon Hoier, Sports Director

Dopamine is a chemical messenger known as the “happy hormone”. The chemical is a response released for emotional feelings of pleasure and reward. Dopamine releases the happy response in our brain when doing an action that may cause you to become addicted to that action or feeling.

WE GET THE DOPAMINE HIGH BY CHECKING CELL PHONES… GETTING LIKES, BEING TAGGED AND WATCHING THINGS THAT WE THINK ARE FUNNY ON TIK TOK.

JENNY MARTINEZ, PSYCHOLOGY TEACHER

“The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works,” Chamath Palihapitiya, former Vice President of User Growth at Facebook said during a talk with Stanford

With social media flooding your brain with dopamine surges, there are more healthy ways to feed your dopamine. A common example would be reading a book. Taking a break from social media and your phone, to sit down and enjoy a good book will release more healthy dopamine surges in your mind. Another way to healthily release dopamine in your brain is to go to the gym or exercise in general. Whether you are running or lifting weights, your body is improving from fitness and your mind is staying healthy with the positive benefits of fitness. So if you’re a teen and trying to find ways to reduce your anxiety, consider balancing out your use of social media with healthy activities and habits.

THE THREE DOPAMINE PATHWAYS

Most of your dopamine is generated in the midbrain and is released in different areas in the brain. The areas dopamine is released, are responsible for learning, habit, formation, and addiction.

MESOCORTICAL: Cognition, Memory, Attetion, Emotional Behavior, and Learning

NIGROSTRIATAL:

Movement and Sensory Stimuli

MESOLIMBIC:

Pleasure and Reward Seeking Behaviors; Addictions, Emotional Perceptions

THINK BEFORE

YOU DRINK

Ateenage girl strolls through the local 7-11, picking up a drink with a bright, eye-catching can. When she glanced at the back, she sees neither a sign of sugar or carbs, and, satisfied, she goes to purchase it.

Drawing in students with every seler’s tactic, the boom of energy drink popularity is quickly moving into schools, but many students are unaware of the health problems caused by energy drinks. They actually have sent hundreds of teenagers to hospitals each year.

Energy drinks advertise many benefits attractive to students: heightened energy, improved concentration, enhanced physical performance and faster recovery after exercise. It’s easy to find them beneficial.

“I try to watch how many I drink per week. I drink about two to three per week. They help because I work late at Food for Less,” one upperclassman said.

But energy drinks are high in caffeine and other stimulants, such as guarana and taurine, containing usually about twice the amount found in coffee or soft drinks and providing a quick pick-me-up.

An over reliance on these drinks due to a busy schedule can hide the dangers. Such is a statement that Mrs. Lamendola, the health science teacher, has become aware of.

She described the story of her brother who. while still in high school, drank two of energy drinks in a short period and was hospitalized for a heart condition–excessive heart rhythm and then an irregular heart rhythm.

“And so I immediately was able to see how dangerous it was for the body,” she said.

Concerns have been raised that energy drinks have an effect, especially on the teen body that is not fully disclosed to its buyers as students’ busy schedules, and need for energy draws them to these drinks without knowing the resulting consequences that healthcare workers, parents, or even the students themselves are noticing.

The high created by these drinks can be compared to the addictive side effects of nicotine, which is equally attractive to teens via vape devices.

Tenth grade English teacher Lauren Lozano, who has had a history of a busy schedule as a former D1 athlete and coach on top of a full time job, reflected both the benefits and negatives that have affected people around her, including her students.

Describing the feeling of drinking energy drinks, she warned, “As soon as you’re done, you hit that

bottom of the canyon. It’s horrible.”

by Kylie Troy, Reporter

Lozano admits that as a college athlete she drank two to three cans per day. Now she drinks about six per week. Ultimately, she said she is not proud of drinking these drinks.

Although they can be used for productive people, LaMendola says that a lot of the time, student are oftentimes unaware of their need or addiction to these drinks.

When students feel a need for energy, they don’t think of the ensuing feelings of fatigue, headaches and irritability, or effects such as increased heart rate, blood pressure, insomnia, and dehydration that are scientifically proven to affect those who consume these drinks at extreme amounts. High sugar levels can lead to weight gain, tooth decay, and diabetes, while artificial sweeteners can cause digestive issues.

Advertisements repetitively show the use of these drinks in college, and extreme levels of sports. Lamendola argued that these drinks are not allowed in the world of Division I athletics and beyond as it can lead to testing positive for banned substances and lead to suspension from activity.

Lozano also mentioned drug tests, saying that unless you drink the drinks immediately before the drug test, with her own experience, they will not show up.

“If somebody’s drinking that drink, and they’re going up and down, up and down, they’re gonna want to always be up. And I know, because of studying other drugs and things like that, that’s what a lot of other drugs do.”

While energy drinks are normalized in schools all around the US there is a question of weather the risks are known

Lauren Lazano

AS SOON AS YOU’RE DONE, AND YOU HIT THAT BOTTOM OF THE CANYON. IT’S IT’S HORRIBLE. AND YOU’RE LIKE I WANT ANOTHER ONE. SO I THINK IT IS AN ADDICTIVE HABIT, ONE THAT I’M DEFINITELY NOT PROUD OF. LAUREN LOZANO

80% OF STUDENTS SURVEYED CONSUME ENERGY DRINKS

WRESTLING WITH HEALTH

Student athletes express the effects sports can have on health and performance

by Rogelio Molina, Junior Director of Photography

Paso Robles High School takes wrestling very seriously, to the point where they won 1st Place in CIF last year and are making possible another CIF run this year. The athletes who are a part of the sport put a lot of heart into their work.

Although they love the sport, they sometimes worry that it can be pushing the limits of their health.

“It can kind of shock you when you like have one day to cut like seven pounds and you don’t eat or drink anything and like I was just constantly running and wasting energy,” said one varsity wrestler.

An estimated 25% to 67% of PRHS wrestlers use techniques such as overexercise, calorie restriction, fasting and different types of dehydration methods to lose the amount of weight that they are required to drop, according to athletes we interviewed.

Students acknowledge how weight loss techniques can affect them. “The weight cuts are definitely tough and mentally draining and physically draining,” said another anonymous wrestler at PRHS.

“The constant like weight gain and weight loss that you go through. It messes with your body, it messes with your sleep. And for younger kids, I feel like it probably messes with your growth,” said the second wrestler.

IT CAN KIND OF SHOCK YOU WHEN YOU LIKE HAVE ONE DAY TO CUT LIKE SEVEN POUNDS AND YOU DON’T EAT OR DRINK ANYTHING AND LIKE I WAS JUST CONSTANTLY RUNNING AND WASTING ENERGY. BUT THE FEELING WHEN YOU MAKE THE WEIGHT IS DEFINITELY GOOD AND WINNING.

The most common injuries in wrestling consist of knee injuries, shoulder and elbow sprains, head injuries, and skin infections, states the Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Such is expected with how the sport is played but the bigger worry for many athletes and parents is the development of possibly negative habits. For example, the weight cuts, which is a style of dieting in order to lose weight before a sporting event. In wrestling, this refers to losing weight in order to be put in a lower weight class.

According to Premier Healthcare, a health company located in Daytona, OH, rapid weight loss is very dangerous for the health of a student athlete because it depletes your body of key nutrients which in turn will make your body physically weaker, more tired, and less mentally focussed.

Another main concern when cutting weight rapidly is dehydration. The Children’s Hospital of Colorado

states that dehydration is the worst method of weight loss because it causes a rapid decline in strength, endurance, and mental alertness. These symptoms of dehydration are noticeable after as little as 2% loss of normal water volume.

However these can be results of the athletes either overdoing the cut or not taking the proper procedures.

“I think that with the weight cut, some people take it too seriously. And they starve themselves and don’t eat or drink for like, more than two days sometimes, but as long as you know at what weight your body’s healthy, you can maintain it properly while still going through the motions,” stated wrestler.

The NCAA rulebook states that a wrestler is to lose weight to reach their preferred weight class by not losing more than 1.5% of their body weight per week. This limits wrestlers from rapidly losing weight which helps keep them healthy and safe.

There are some ways that a wrestler or any other athlete can lose weight without putting their health at risk: athletes can talk with their coaches, doctors, or even the school’s athletic trainer on how to set up a program that will help them lose weight quickly without jeopardizing their health.

Some simple ways any athlete can stay healthy while cutting weight rapidly is staying hydrated, eating more protein rather than fats, and maximizing the amount of sleep that they get.

Hydration is key to any other person that is alive. Staying hydrated and drinking more water helps increase energy throughout the day, helps with recovery, and aids in mental clarity.

They can also reduce the amount of fats found in their foods and eat more protein in their diets. Though fatty foods often taste better, they have more calories with nine calories per gram of fat while proteins only contain four calories per gram. That may seem like a small difference but the more grams one eats the more it adds up. It can be the difference between staying fit and healthy or gaining weight and being out of shape.

Sleep, just like hydration, is extremely important to any living being. According to Health.gov, getting around seven or more hours of sleep helps with reducing stress, improves mental clarity and function, restores your energy, and can even help you maintain a healthy weight.

MORE WATER

STAYING HYDRATED HELPS YOU TO STAY ENERGIZED

MORE PROTEIN

CUTTING FATS AND EATING MORE PROTEIN HELPS LOSE UNNECESSARY BODY FAT AND MAINTAIN MUSCLE MASS

MORE SLEEP

PRHS Wrestler

Photo by Noemi Basurto, PRHS Yearbook

TO THE RESCUE

Student athletes rush to the athletic trainer’s door in hopes to receive some sort of relief from the pain they are experiencing but are suddenly stopped and rejected by a sad, cold, locked door. After the athletic trainer’s room being closed up and lifeless for a whole semester, PRHS is finally ready to welcome Kevin Williams to fill the ominous void.

Williams is an athletic trainer coming from Bakersfield, California.

“I worked at Cal State Bakersfield for almost four years. There I served as the assistant athletic director for sports medicine. Prior to Cal State, I worked at Academy of Art University in San Francisco for almost five years,” Williams said.

He and his wife of seven years, Julia Williams spend their time doing activities such as kayaking, hiking, camping, and traveling. They also enjoy cooking and trying new restaurants in their free time. The Williams are expecting their first child in June, but for now take pride in their dog, Titus.

Williams decided to become an athletic trainer after he discovered his profound admiration for the human body and decided to put this into his future. Williams, as well as athletic trainers all over the world help aid with prevention, assessment, treatment and recovery of injuries and illnesses for athletes.

“I’ve always been surrounded by sports and had a knack for anatomy. I felt like this career was a good blend, considering my love for anatomy and how the human body works. Being a part of a team culture is what kind of led me to this career field,” Williams said.

Williams was brought closer to the west coast after he heard about the job opening from a close friend.

“My wife is originally from the Central Coast. So, ultimately we’ve been trying to get back to the Central Coast to be closer to friends and family. One of my college friends that works in the area as an athletic trainer told me about the position and I jumped at it as fast as I could,” Williams said.

With over nine years of experience under his belt, Williams has had to deal with occurrences that really stuck with him. One of the most challenging though, was something that everyone in the world also got to experience with him – Covid-19.

“I would say navigating the Covid-19 era in athletics is something I’ll never forget. It was challenging, but it also allowed me to work with and learn from many great athletic trainers, team doctors, and other healthcare professionals in the community. This experience helped me grow professionally and create a network of healthcare professionals that I can collaborate with for years to come,” Williams said.

Since Williams began working at PRHS, he has already helped with the recovery of numerous students. Such students include Shane Vaughn (12) and Tristen Salgado (11). During the absence of an athletic trainer, in October of 2022, Vaughn was injured in an intense football game against Mission Prep. While he faced a potential neck and back injury then, he understands the importance of having an athletic trainer now.

Vaughn injured his ankle during a wrestling match in January 2023, and began treatment for it the following day. In a short time, with the help of the athletic trainer, Vaughn has almost fully recovered.

“He’s already helped me so much with recovery. I’m just thankful that I’m actually able to do things now. But having no trainer during sports, especially during my first injury, was really challenging. Having someone who knows what to do is just really helpful,” Vaughn said.

Salgado is also facing the same challenge. Salgado injured his ankle during practice after coming back from being sick. Salgado attempted a lay up before falling back down to earth and planting into the ground, inverting his foot under him in the process.

Salgado began treatment within minutes. He was able to get some ice applied for the night and then start rehabilitation the next day.

“I sprained my ankle this past week and immediately, I’ve already started to recover and get treatment for it. So, as opposed to football when I had to go through these like, longer type treatments, it’s immediate.” said Salgado.

After already making a big impression amongst students, athletes, parents and staff, PRHS has finally felt a wave of relief now that they have a set athletic trainer.

He’s already helped me so much with recovery. I’m just thankful that I’m actually able to do things now. But having no trainer during sports, especially during my first injury, was really challenging. Having someone who knows what to do is just really helpful

by Savannah Rickard, Photographer

Paso Robles welcomes a new athletic trainer, Kevin Williams, after athletes face an entire fall sports season in jeopardy

Shane Vaughn, 12

Tristen Salgado, 11

SHANE VAUGHN, 12

WINTER SPORTS WRESTLING

1ST IN LEAGUE

The Varsity boys wrestling team ends their season on a high note. Winning the mountain league and even with the loss of their seniors they beat Riggetti their bigest rivail in the league again this year and have high hopes for CIF trying to keep their title as CIF Champs. The boys have put a lot of hard work and a lot of time into the succes of their program led by head coach Mr. Yabarra. For the boys they have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming years.

WRESTLING GIRLS

1ST IN LEAGUE

Having one of the first girls wrestling teams in a while for us, and being one of the “newest” teams to the program. They had a good season last year and did well in league. For senior MJ her season this year has been good for her and the team, “It’s been really great so far, I’ve had some pretty good tournaments and placed at all of them.” The girls have had a good run for the season and just had the league tournament on February 4.

BOYS SOCCER

3RD IN LEAGUE

5W-7L-

2T

Boys soccer team posing for a picture after their senior night.

The boys soccer season is halfway over, captain Jordan Keppins is happy for this season and the chemistry they have compared to last season. ”this is the best team I’ve seen chemistry wise…” He is looking forward to the senior night game against AG and says it should be a good game against them.”When we put all of our talents together like we’re really solid, last year the individual talent was there, but the chemistry wasn’t.” The team standings in league as of February 15, are 5-7-2 and they are sitting 6th in league. On Tuesday the 14th the boys were seded 12th and had their first CIF game against the 5th seed Dinuba in Division III. They won the game 4-0, Senior Efrain Ontiveros scoring 2 of the 4 goals and Junior Nicolas Woodard scoring another goal, and Adrian Conejo scoring the last . Their next game was Chaves High School on the 16th of Febuary.

Sophomore Elijah Hernandez goes up for a header.

Paso going for the pin.

Paso wrestling team cheering on their teammate after a win in a match in the Gil Aisa gym

Junior Skyler Lieber dribbles the ball ahead in front of the defender to gain an advantage.

The girls wrestling team posing for a picture after a head to head match.

OVERVIEW GIRLS SOCCER

The girls team this year has had tight games in league with a standing of 3-5-3 as of February 3 and placed 6th in league, all teams this year are very close in skill and talent, captain Jaclyn Bullard says, ”...we are looking to capitalize on our games this week to hopefully climb further up. Our record definitely does not represent the way we have been playing and I have complete faith that we will pull through for our last games.” The girls on paper have not done as well when compared to years in the past but, the season is not over and they hope to change the outcome for the team, the team has a lot more to show in team spirit and camaraderie than what the books can show.

Overview of the winter sports for the 2022-23 winter season

By Jakob Baier, Sports Photographer

6th IN LEAGUE

Girls soccer team running across the field during half time to keep warm because of the cold tempratures.

GIRLS BASKETBALL BOYS BASKETBALL

The Boys Basketball has started off with some big wins for them this season and they hope to continue that on into the back half of the season. When compared to last season the boys have done a lot better overall, in winning games, skill, and also in reading the field. Senior Dallon Scott says, “We still have a lot of losses, but it’s a lot better than last year and we’re starting to really pick up as a team.” Their ranking in Ocean league is seventh place, in front of Orcutt Academy. Looking to improve in the next half of the season and next year the Basketball team is slowly building back up. The boys this year are sitting with a record of 1-10 and are 7th in Ocean league as of February 4.

The girls this year are doing very well with a record this year of 11-1 as of February 4 and are 1st in Ocean league. They have had many close games this season against SLO with a final score of 33-32 Bearcats and a home game against Lompoc 42-36 while being down the first 3 quarters and coming back and dominating the 4th and taking the win. The Lady bearcats have had a tough season so far this year and have been resilient and done very well against some of the stronger teams this year and in years past.

Senior Jaclyn Bullard lineing up for a shot at one of their home games.

Boys basketball team in a huddle before the game going over the game plan.

Junior Wyatt Haley dribbling the ball down the court to make a layup and score for the bearcats.

Junior Riley Milder shooting a midrange shot against the Templeton Eagles.

Senior Akasha Asberry trying to break away from the defenders and score a layup during their senior night.

7TH IN LEAGUE

1ST IN LEAGUE

4W-7L-3T 11-1 1-10

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING:

SCORING

FOCUS

Ontiveros looks up at his target (the goal), takes a deep breath, and looks down at the ball as he strikes it.

EFRAIN ONTIVEROS

by Serenity Wulfing, EIC

Running up the sideline, Efrain Ontiveros , sees his teammate steal the ball and carry it up the field.

Ontiveros yells for the ball and it is passed. The ball glides across the turf and Ontiveros runs up onto it. The defender is too far behind and Ontiveros sees a window to shoot. He breathes in and out and in a swift motion takes a shot securing yet another goal for the Bearcats.

Ontiveros is a senior and has played varsity soccer for three years, and plays striker and right and left wing. He has been playing for 13 years. His commitment lies in soccer as he trains for two hours everyday— Sunday is his only rest day.

If it wasn’t for his mom, Crystal Ontiveros, he would have never played soccer. At a ripe age of 5, his mother convinced him to simply try it and absolutely fell in love with it. Growing up, he watched Lionel Messi and fell in love with his playing style. Watching him on replay inspired Ontiveros in his soccer career.

“I love soccer because it showed me how to care for others and how it feels to have a family,” Ontiveros said.

Ontiveros considered all his teammates family—old and new. Every moment with them he cherishes, saying he can’t wait for the countless memories to come.

Ontiveros hopes to do walk-on tryouts in college and continue his soccer career. He plans to attend a four year university and become a physical therapist or a coach for a professional team.

TOTAL GOALS THIS SEASON

Varsity Soccer Striker 9

STANCE

Left foot is planted as he strikes the ball with his right foot. After kicking the ball, he follows through with his shooting leg in the direction he aimed the ball.

KICK

Ontiveros strikes the ball with his rightlaces. As he kicks, he locks his ankle to create power through his striking foot.