Frida Alvarado’s Portfolio 2018-2019
Reflection 1: A Self-Analytical Evaluation This semester has been a very unexpected, stressful, and life-changing. I never thought I would ever say that about a semester. These past 4 months, I have learned how to get stuff done! This was something I was lacking horribly with last semester and last year. Next year, as an editor, getting my stuff done will help my grades be stable and good, help the newspaper get done faster, and even help the new staff members able this skill as well. I really need to improve on my managing my time, and learning how to balance all my classwork in a non stressful way. Last year, Mrs.Hart was way more lenient with deadlines, so I think that that greatly affected my procrastination in a negative way. This semester, deadlines hit me harder than I thought it would. I learned that not turning stuff in not only affects me but other people and especially the image of newspaper. Which is why I always felt a lot of pressure to turn thing in, which was a good thing since it made me turn things in. Next year, I really hope that I feel the same pressure I felt this semester so I keep on my grind. This semester I did not work with that many people, but I feel like I work well with people. It is important to work as a team on the newspaper because it helps get everything done faster, you learn more through people, and you form a stronger bond with the people on the staff. This year I noticed that we did form way stronger bonds with everyone than last year. Even though the editors and staff started becoming friendlier with each other during this semester, it was still fun to have the friendships we formed with them, and honestly I enjoyed being around them. Not plagiarizing and being honest about not having my work done, made me feel better about my work when it was finished and motivated me to continue writing since I knew that my work was good because I made it. This semester, I was not as a huge asset as other people in production were. I did slack off a lot and I only wrote stories so no one depended on me as much as they did with other people like with Ryan, or Logan. I think that I honestly was not committed as much as I should have been. I love this class but it was not enough for me to offer to do more for Newspaper. I did not come to all the production days, even when I could have made an effort. I never had my stories done on time, making it stressful for the editors and Mrs. Hart. I did though, always get my interviews done on time, and I would bring food regularly. This semester, like the past semester and past year, I really had a lack of motivation to write certain articles. This year, especially this second semester, I learned that no matter what you are going through, to push through. Life does not stop, no matter what you are going through. Next year, I will push through, no matter what incident I am going through. My greatest weakness for sure is that i tend to mix to much of my personal life with school. Even though it is not that big of a deal, it made me lean away from getting a lot of things done, whether it was in this class or other classes. It affected how motivated I was to write, even if it was a topic I was slightly educated in. Next year, setting boundaries is going to be a big thing for me. Focusing on my work will be my top priority at school.
Reflection 2: I would say that my best work this semester was the hiking story. I enjoy writing stories where I am involved and I am actually doing something. That is why I had so much fun writing it, getting research for it, pictures, and etcetera. I liked the role that I played with this story. Everything depended on me, the writing, the pictures, the research, it was my story. The story was hard to complete, since that week it was rainy and I had limited access to certain hikes because of the car that we had but it was still great nonetheless. It felt really great to watch the story expand as much as it did when I first started it. I remember taking pictures on the hike and of my friend hiking thinking that these would not be good enough for the paper and then seeing it transform into this really pretty cohesive article,it made me feel really proud. I learned to use everything Mrs. Hart taught me about photography which was really cool. The pictures I thought were really decent and of course some made it in the paper, making me really proud. I also learned what everyone meant when they are scrambling to get pictures and getting stuff done, something I never thought I would do even as an editor. Over all, the final product made me really proud. Everything I personally thought was good which is why I think it was my favorite and best article all second semester production.
Hiking
The spring training article had to be one of the hardest articles I have written all year. I know absolutely nothing about spring training or anything about baseball. Our sports editor, Avianna, commented and told me that it was really good, which made me realize that i really did not do that bad on it. As a person who has no interest in sports, I think this was one of the best sports articles in the page.
The No Novels story was pretty tricky for me since I had no idea how everything was for the ELA curriculum. I did like it because I made me work harder than normally. I felt good about the article since I worked hard getting good interviews with people who have good views. I picked this article since it showed both sides from both a teacher and student so it offered a lot of point of views for the reader.
Reflection 3: The Z’s House of Thai was another article that I enjoyed writing. I was able to eat food, yeah!!. I had hands on experience, which is something I enjoy, and ate yummy food. It was also my first time writing a review for a restaurant. The writing process was not that hard. Everything about that article was really easy, another reason why I enjoyed it.
Tear Sheets February the News
2 ● February 8, 2019
Drama Club
THE CACTUS SHADOWS PRESS
prepares for the spring
PREPARING FOR THE
BIG NIGHT, Kayla Dobbs, a senior, takes the part of Fantine in the production of Les Misérables. “The best part is singing I Dreamed a Dream... I remember singing that when I was younger and it’s surreal that I get to sing it onstage for people now,” said Dobbs. 4
MUSICAL
T Frida Alvarado staff writer
he Shadowbox Players will perform the Les Miserables award-winning musical Les Miserables will open at the onfine March 7th, 8th, 9th, fourteenth, fifarts center teenth and7sixteenth, at the Fine Arts on March Center. During the aftermath of the French Revolution, the story begins in 19th-century France. Jean Valjean is released from nineteen years of unjust imprisonment and spends the rest of his life trying to redeem himself. Javert, a police inspector, refuses to believe that Valjean can change his ways, and pursues him relentlessly. Finally, during the Paris student uprising of 1832, Javert must confront his ideals after Valjean spares his life and saves that of the student revolutionary who has captured the heart of Valjean's adopted daughter. His world view shattered, Javert commits suicide, and Valjean finally attains the peace that he has sought for so long.
BROOK BOWMAN
Les les ab e Miserpen at th r te o will arts cen fine arch 7 on M
Inspiration becomes reality
“I chose this show because it provides many opportunities for new actors, as well as a strong challenge for performers who have been in shows before,” said Andrew Cupo, Drama Department chair and acting teacher. “Plus, it has a wonderful message of redemption and doing the right thing and second chances.” The cast playing the main characters are John Bush, a senior, as Jean Valjean, Benji Gerst, a senior, playing Javert, Kayla Dobbs, a senior, as Fantine, Chloe Otstot, a junior, playing Cosette, Drew Johnston, a senior, playing Eponine, Flinn Smith, a senior, as Thenardier, Brittany Whalen, a junior, as Madame Thenardier, Adam Schwartz, a freshman, as Marius Pontmercy, Dallas Overfield, a senior, as Enjolras, and Gabe Ozaki, a senior, as Gavroche. “When I first found out we were doing Les Miserables, I was super excited,” said Dobbs, who plays the female lead. “I was nervous since it’s such a big production but everyone is working really hard and it is really starting to come together.”
Behind the scenes
Choreography, makeup, costumes and vocal practice have been time consuming due to the large cast. Cheyenne Yerkes, a sophomore, is one of the costume assistants. While the Drama Club performs a musical every spring, this year’s production of Les Miserables is particulary challenging, according to Yerkes. “The most difficult thing, really, is costuming,” said Yerkes. “The[re are] big scenes where almost everyone is on stage at the same time and finding costumes from that time period and fit people in the cast [is a big challenge]. I have faith in the cast and crew that the show will be amazing because they are amazing, and it’s all gonna depend on how hard people work.” The choreographer for the show is Madeline McDonald, a senior and member of the Falcon Dance Company. “The most challenging thing is getting the music rhythms down. This show has a lot of time changes and it can be challenging at first when looking at all the sheet music. Everything is sung through so even
when someone isn’t necessarily ‘singing’ there is a still a specific rhythm the actor has to follow,” said Dobbs. Rehearsals are every day after school at 2:30 to 5:30. Each rehearsal is different and depends on where the cast is at. Currently, the cast is a month into their regular schedule. According to Harrison Newton, senior and Assistant Director and Stage Manager, the cast still needs to perfect their choreography, blocking, building their sets, and lock in the pitch of groups and solo numbers.
The anticipation begins
“I think it's going great. You really can’t compare productions especially when the artistic process is different every time. But, the cast is very focused during rehearsals and they all know how difficult this show is to pull off so you’ll not want to miss this. Amazing actors, set, costumes, and music,” said Newton. The show will run for six days in March. More information can be found on the Drama Club website.
TAKING IN THE MOMENT, John Bush, a senior, plays the role Jean Valjean. “I really enjoyed the whole process and it’s going to be a great feeling when we can perform and show everyone how great our show is,” said Bush. 4 BROOK BOWMAN
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