December 18, 2019
VOL. MMXVIX, No. 8
RAM’S EAR R I O V I S TA H I G H S C H O O L
70,000 blue jackets in one place
by Jorie Forbes, Editor-in-Chief
walk, they encountered a snowstorm that got stronger and stronger the longer they walked. They were dressed in their formal FFA attire of a corduroy jacket and dress pants or skirts. Their hands froze and they couldn’t feel their feet. Despite the forty degree weather and snow, every night they ate ice cream from a popular midwest fast food restaurant called Culver’s. One evening, they went out to dinner with students from an Indiana FFA chapter. They enjoyed Brazilian barbeque and mingled, sharing stories and common interests. Ms. Bartlett said, “I think it helped the students work on social skills. They had the opportunity to meet and make friends with people from different states.” On the fourth and fifth day of the trip, they toured the Indianapolis Speedway and walked around the Indy Zoo. “It was a great opportunity for students to travel outside of California and spend the week with 68,000 FFA members from around the country,” says FFA Advisor Mrs. Reis. “They had the opportunity to visit with colleges and businesses from all over the U.S. We got to experience Culver’s ice cream for the first time.” The trip was made possible in part by donations from our generous community members. One of the fundraisers was a Lockeford sausage dinner hosted at the
Montezuma Fire Department (a big thank you to them for also donating $500 and to Chris Mingay and Jay Forbes for making the event possible). To raise additional funds, people were “clucked” - their yards were decorated with brightly painted chickens. They paid a removal fee and an additional $25 to choose the next victim. The trip increased the enthusiasm of
Eight FFA members visiting the Indianapois Motor Speedway in Indiana while on their trip to the National FFA Convention. From left to right: Wyatt Hagan, Sam Esperson, Jessica Mingay, Jorie Forbes, Meraiah Groves, Lane Eggers, and Aidan Walker. Advisors Mrs. Reis and Ms. Bartlett not pictured.
Porter encourages students to live their lives to the fullest
Photo courtesy of Ms. Bartlett.
by Taylor Fitzgerald, Staff Writer
Bass Club members Dominic Vieira and Boone Hurley (left to right) holding their four biggest catches from the second tournament at Clearlake, including Dominic’s 5.51 lb Largemouth Bass.
Rio Vista High has one of the coolest history teachers. He is very supportive and has very high spirits about being one of RVHS’ teachers. While being interviewed, he said, he doesn’t plan on a different job, he has had other part time jobs, but nothing tops being a teacher and he will stay teaching until it’s time to retire.
New Bass Club getting students hooked on fishing
by Tuck Forbes, Staff Writer
This year RVHS has added a new kind of club. A bass fishing team club. This club represents RVHS in bass fishing tournaments around California. The club is currently made of eight members separated into four teams. They are Co-Presidents Carson Spradling and Chase Ludlow, Chris Nunes, Ryan Witcraft, Daniel “Boone” Hurley, Carter Lira, Dominic Vieira, and Drew Mackey. Each team has two fishermen and one boater. The boater has to be 19 or older and the fishermen have to be students of RVHS with a GPA of 2.5 or better. These teams compete against other high schools in the Student Angler Federation (SAF) for scholarships and the chance to get recognized by a college and maybe receive a full-ride scholarship.
In their first tournament at New Melones they did good with one team placing in the top ten. Boone and Carter got eighth out of 53 teams and had the second biggest fish with a total weight of 9.62 lbs and a big fish that weighed 3.89 lbs. Drew and Dominic ended up placing 41st out of 53 with one fish weighing in at 1.88 lbs. Chris, Ryan, Carson, and Chase did not catch a qualifying fish. When asked what it is like to fish in a tournament Boone said, “It was different because you have to catch quality fish to win instead of just fishing for fun.” The second tournament this year was fished at Clear Lake. Even though there was only one team from RVHS there, made up of Dominic and Boone, they ended up placing 18th place out of 49 with five fish
the FFA attendees and advisors. President Lane Eggers said, “Personally, I have a lot of energy now to improve what we’re doing as a chapter and a lot of ideas.” They are excited to incorporate some of the improvement ideas they learned. Hopefully it won’t be another seven years until they have they have the opportunity to return.
Photo courtesy of Ms. Bartlett.
What were 70,000 teenagers doing in Indiana dressed in blue corduroy? Attending the 92nd Annual National Future Farmers of America (FFA) Convention, of course! For the first time in seven years, FFA members and advisors from Rio Vista attended the convention, along with approximately 68,000 other high school students from around the country. The seven students and two advisors braved snow flurries, sacrificed sleep and walked endless miles during the five day trip. They attended convention sessions and exposition, socialized with fellow students from other states, toured popular attractions, and had a blast. The trip was delayed by a day after the attendees’ flight was cancelled. But that didn’t slow them down. They arrived in Indianapolis just in time to see Old Dominion in concert that night. The next couple of days were spent at events in the convention center. They attended speaking sessions hosted by the national officers in the local NFL stadium, went to the career exposition, visited booths for every state’s FFA affiliate, and learned about new ideas for the Rio Vista FFA chapter during workshops. Most mornings, in less than forty degree weather, they walked fifteen minutes to the convention center from where their van was parked. During one such
weighing in at a total weight of 14.57 lbs and a big fish at 5.51 lbs. Normally this fish would have placed but in this tournament the biggest fish weighed in over 7 lbs. In their third tournament the team was represented by one team made up of Chase Ludlow and Dominic Vieira. They came in at ninth place out of 15 with a total weight of 4.91 lbs and a big fish at 1.81 lbs, which was caught by Dominic. The Bass Club originally started with Ms. Chesnut as just a place for students that liked fishing to hang out. Once Ms. Bartlett was asked to be the advisor she asked them if they wanted to compete against other schools. This was how they got into competing. The bass team (Continued to page 2)
Mr. Porter has been a teacher for five years. He says the best thing about his job is the relationships he has with his students. He likes showing his history students how to enjoy learning, even though “it’s the hardest thing to do.” Before Mr. Porter starts his day teaching he listens to his favorite tunes in the car as he heads to work everyday, and at the end of the day he takes 15 minutes to himself. There’s a quote in Mr. Porter’s class that he looks up to and said, “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that counts. It’s the life in your years,” by Abraham Lincoln. He had one himself he wants his students to live by: “Live life to the fullest with no regrets.” Mr. Porter worked hard to be a teacher. He took six years total of schooling, two years graduate and four years undergraduate, and his college major was in social science. Mr. Porter was born and raised in Castro Valley, CA. He also attended high school there, where he graduated in 2007. Castro Valley High is where he enjoyed sports and hanging out with his friends. He played football for three years and track and field for one year. Track and field was the one he enjoyed most. In conclusion, Mr. Porter has shown and proven that he is willing to do everything it takes to help his students succeed. He helps all of his students when they need help so they can pass his class and graduate. He shows so much love for his students and truly cares for their education.
Page 2
RAM’S EAR
December 18, 2019
Is Disney Plus taking Calendar of School Events over the small screen? DECEMBER CURRENT EVENTS
by Marivella Torres, Staff Writer
Today in TV entertainment many people tend to use Netflix, Hulu, HBO GO, Prime Video, Starz, etc. Most people prefer to use Netflix or Hulu. Before Disney Plus, Netflix was number one in entertainment until Disney Plus was launched. The difference between all of these kinds of entertainment apps are their prices. Netflix is an American media-services provider and production. Netflix’s most basic plan will now be $8.99 per month, up from $7.99, while its Standard plan with HD quality, the company’s most popular offering, will increase from $10.99 to $12.99. Its Premium plan will rise to $15.99 from $13.99. Netflix has all sorts of TV shows and movies. Their categories are Family and Children, Netflix Originals, Horror, Comedy, Anime, Dramas, and many more. Hulu is a U.S. based subscription video on demand service fully controlled. Hulu with ads is $7.99 per month. Hulu with no ads is $11.99 per month. Hulu Plus Live TV is $44.99 per month. Hulu has a lot of the same type of movies and TV shows as Netflix and some Netflix does not have. HBO NOW and Starz are American premium cable and satellite television networks, which means they are mostly used on cable but some people may use them on their app or on a Roku. Starz and HBO stream TV shows and movies. They both have all sorts of categories like Comedy, Children and Family, Action, Horror, etc. HBO costs $14.99 a month; however, HBO GO is free with an HBO subscription. STARZ is between $8.99 and $13.99 a month depending on where you subscribe. When you use the STARZ app to subscribe directly from STARZ, you pay $8.99 a month. When you add STARZ to DirecTV you pay $13.99 a month. You can expect similar prices at other cable companies. Prime Video, also marketed as Amazon Prime Video, is an American Internet
video on demand service that is developed, owned, and operated by Amazon. There are two ways to get Amazon Prime Video. You can pay a monthly rate of $8.99 to access Amazon Prime Video as a standalone membership or you can sign up for Amazon Prime, which costs $12.99 a month or $119 a year. If you are an Amazon Prime Member you have access to thousands of Prime Video titles at no additional cost. You also have the option to rent or buy movies and TV episodes not included with Prime Video, as well as subscribe to over 100 premium channels with Prime Video Channels subscriptions. Disney Plus is an American subscription video on-demand streaming service owned by the Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International division of The Walt Disney Company. The service debuted on November 12, 2019, in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands. Disney Plus includes all of Disney’s family-friendly content and much of its mass-audience fare, anything made for audiences up to a PG-13 rating. It has content from Disney proper, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and National Geographic. Disney Plus costs $6.99 per month, or $69.99 per year ($5.83/ month). Disney has over 10 million subscribers since the Tuesday it got launched. I have Disney Plus, and I really like it. Looking through the app and seeing all the old Disney movies brings back childhood memories …. Well, it’s like Christmas morning. It brought back so many memories from when I was little. The app has a lot of family and children movies but also more adult-like movies. It has mostly all the Star Wars, The Avengers, and many more. I am not into national geographic but that’s in the app too. I am a big Disney fan so I really enjoy having all the movies on my phone or on my TV. The app has had some errors with it like any new app that just comes out. They will learn from it and then fix it.
RAM’S EAR
Published by Rio Vista High School, Digital Publications Class 410 South Fourth Street | Rio Vista, California 94571 (707)374-6336 ext. 1224 email: rvhsramsear@gmail.com Printed by School Paper Express, Wappingers Falls, New York Letters to the Editor: To be published, letters must have the author’s name, address, and telephone number.
Editor-in-Chief Jorie Forbes
Associate Editors Pete Rossi and Jaqueline Leal-Carrillo Adviser Julie Griffin
Ram’s Ear Staff Taylor Fitzgerald, Tuck Forbes, Lily Griffin, Amber Griswold, Nathan Hearn, Taylor Holyfield, Liseth Mendoza, Bryan Rish, Elicia Rodriguez, Sophia Saldana, Jason Spearman, Maia Stone, Alex Tejeda, Miguel Tejeda, Amber Tonnesen, Marivella Torres, Art Weller
December 2 - Girls Basketball vs St. Helena (home) (JV) 5:30 p.m. (VAR) 7:00 p.m. / Boys VAR Basketball @ Dixon 7:00 p.m. / December 3 - Girls Basketball @ Delta (VAR) 6:00 p.m. December 4 - Soccer @ Natomas (Girls) 4:00 (Boys) 6:00 p.m. December 5-7 - Western Sierra JV Girls Basketball Tournament December 6 - Girls Basketball @ ABLE Charter (JV) 5:30 p.m. (VAR) 7:00 p.m. / Girls Soccer vs Delta (away) 4:00 p.m. / Boys Soccer vs Delta (home) 6:00 p.m. December 7 - Wrestling @ Escalon, Girls & JV Tournament December 9 - Boys Soccer @ Esparto 5:30 p.m. December 10 - Basketball vs Esparto (home) (Girls JV) 3:00 p.m. (Girls VAR) 6:00 p.m. (Boys VAR) 7:30 p.m. December 11 - Girls Soccer vs Fairfield (home) 4:00 p.m. / Boys Soccer @ Amador 5:00 p.m. December 12-14 - Girls Basketball St. Helena Varsity Tournament December 13 - Boys Basketball vs Winters (home) (JV) 5:30 p.m. (VAR) 7:30 p.m. December 16 - Boys Soccer @ Woodland 6:00 p.m. December 17 - Basketball vs Delta (home) (Boys JV) 4:30 p.m. (Girls VAR) 6:00 p.m. (Boys VAR) 7:30 p.m. December 18 - Boys Soccer vs Esparto (home) 6:00 p.m. December 19-21 - Girls Basketball Sutter Tournament December 20 - Boys Basketball @ Tokay (VAR) 5:30 p.m. December 20-21 - Wrestling Lou Bronzan Varsity Tournament December 21 - Wrestling Whitney Girls & JV Tournament December 27-28 - Wrestling No Guts, No Glory Tournament
JANUARY
January 3-4 - Wrestling Escalon Varsity Tournament January 6 - Girls Basketball @ ABLE Charter (VAR) / Soccer vs Woodland Christian (Girls) 4:00 p.m. (Boys) 6:00 p.m. January 8 - Wrestling SDL Center Meet 1 (home) 6:00 p.m. / Girls Basketball vs Esparto (home) (JV) 3:00 p.m. (VAR) 7:00 p.m. Soccer vs Vacaville Christian (home) (Girls) 4:00 (Boys) 6:00 p.m. January 10 - Basketball vs Vacaville Christian (home) (Boys JV) 4:30 p.m. (Girls VAR) 6:00 p.m. (Boys VAR) 7:30 p.m. January 13 - Soccer @ Golden Sierra (Girls) 4:00 (Boys) 6:00 January 14 - Basketball vs Golden Sierra (home) (Girls JV) 3:00 p.m. (Girls VAR) 6:00 p.m. (Boys VAR) 7:30 p.m. January 15 - Soccer vs Linden (home) (Girls) 4:00 p.m. (Boys) 6:00 p.m. / Wrestling SDL Center Meet 2 (away) 6:00 p.m. January 17 - Basketball @ San Juan (Boys JV) 4:30 p.m. (Girls VAR) 6:00 p.m. (Boys VAR) 7:00 p.m. January 18 - Wrestling Armijo Tournament January 21 - Basketball @ Highlands (Girls JV) 3:00 p.m. (Boys JV) 4:30 p.m. (Girls VAR) 6:00 p.m. January 22 - Soccer vs San Juan (home) (Girls) 4:00 (Boys) 6:00 January 24 - Basketball vs Linden (home) (Girls JV) 3:00 p.m. (Girls VAR) 6:00 p.m. / Boys VAR Basketball @ Linden 7:00 p.m. / Soccer @ Highlands (Girls) 4:00 p.m. (Boys) 6:00 p.m. January 26 - JV Boys Basketball vs Linden (home) 6:00 p.m. January 27 - Soccer @ Vacaville Christian (Girls) 4:00 p.m. (Boys) 6:00 p.m. January 28 - Wrestling Rodriguez Tournament / Basketball @ Vacaville Christian (Boys JV) 4:30 p.m. (Girls VAR) 6:00 p.m. (Boys VAR) 7:00 p.m. January 29 - Soccer vs Golden Sierra (home) (Girls) 4:00 p.m. (Boys) 6:00 p.m. (Continued from page 1) BASS CLUB
is currently sponsored by Sherman Marina, Lochlan Ranches, and Spradling Construction. The money from these sponsors is used to help pay for the costs of fishing in tournaments. Each tournament costs the club $25 per team to fish and $25 to pay the boaters for gas. Ms. Bartlett is hoping to raise enough money so that the teams don’t have to pay for any part of the tournament. As of now each team pays for launching, parking, and, if it is a state park, entrance. If you are at all interested in this you need to have a partner, a boater that is 19 or older, access to a boat, a fishing pole and
tackle, and if you are 16 or older a fishing license. If you have all of these you can apply with Ms. Bartlett in the Ag. Building. If you want to support the bass team but don’t want to join don’t worry. You can still go and follow their Facebook page at RVHS Bass Team or by scanning the QR code to the right. They are also selling sweatshirts for $25, hats for $20, and long-sleeve shirts for $15 in Ms. Bartlett’s classroom.
December 18, 2019
Page 3
Photo courtesy of Rick Mayfield
Photo courtesy of Araceli Elisea
RAM’S EAR
Latino Club’s ofrenda table in the office hallway is an example of ofrendas used by Latino cultures to help them celebrate their deceased friends and family on Dia de Los Muertos.
Fish and game expert Jamie shows the ag class how a mountain lion necropsy is preformed and why they have to preform one.
Latino Club exposes RVHS to Latin American culture
RVHS Ag classes experience rare Mountain Lion necropsy
by Liseth Mendoza, Staff Writer
Mountain lions are a rare sight to see in Rio Vista. The only cats we tend to see are their small, friendlier counterparts. But Ms. Bartlett’s Plant and Animal Anatomy class got the chance to see one up close and personal. Rick Mayfield from Fish and Game gave the class an opportunity to witness a necropsy on a female mountain lion up close. Watching the mountain lion be cut into was an interesting experience, many had to leave the room because they couldn’t take the sight of it. When the class walked into the room a peculiar smell was immediately noticeable. The first step of the necropsy was to open the lions abdomen and reveal all the icky stuff on the inside. When the animal was opened the smell level was kicked up a notch, it was truly getting stinky. At this point many people had left the room because the mountain lion’s slimy inner parts were just too unset-
The Latino Club is one out of many clubs at Rio Vista High School. This is the second year the Latino Club has been part of RVHS. The Latino Club was created by Alondra Villapando and Cindy Torres last year 2018. The president of the Latino Club this year is Araceli Elisea. The vice presidents are Valerie Rodriguez and Marivella Torres. The secretaries are Neida Segoviano and Liseth Mendoza, and the treasurers are Yocelyn Corona and Ofelia Montano. The Latino Club has meetings every other Friday during lunch in Ms. Roman’s room. The advisors are Ms. Roman and Ms. Alduenda. It’s important that you should be involved in your school’s activities. Anyone is welcome to join the Latino Club. The Latino Club made an ofrendas table for the Day of the Dead. It was in the hallway by the office in the main entrance. They did a wonderful job. The ofrenda table looked amazing. They welcomed anyone from the school to put a picture up from their loved ones that passed away or wrote their names down on one of the skeletons. A couple days before the Day of the Dead, they got together and made paper flowers and they brought in things
to put on the ofrendas table. They worked on it during lunch and came in after school to work on it. The students used their free time to work on it, they were committed to it. The Latino Club has many great ideas that they want to do in the future like sell mexican candies at the soccer games and more. Some students that are a part of the Latino Club were asked what made them want to be a part of the club. Junior Ofelia Montano stated with a smile on her face, “I really liked the idea of bringing the latino culture to the high school and I wanted to be part of it.” Senior Valerie Rogriguez stated “I wanted to join Latino Club because it was a part of my roots and where I come from, which is something I hadn’t seen at RVHS” stated Senior, Valerie Rogriguez. When asked what they like about the Latino Club, Freshman Roxana Segoviano said, “What I like about it is that they care about everyone’s opinion and they don’t just do stuff without asking the rest of the club.” Freshman, Berenice Sandoval added, “Something I like is how Latinos come together and show our culture to the school and how its open to everyone.”
by Nathan Hearn, Staff Writer
tling for them but I was truly intrigued by the inner workings of this animal. As the necropsy went forward more and more of the animal’s insides were revealed eventually painting the whole picture of what the mountain lion is made up of. Another student, Jorie Forbes says, “It was cool I guess. We got to see the process of the dissection of a dead animal.” When asked what projects she would like to do in the future she said, “I would like to dissect an animal myself.” I found the experience of watching the autopsy fun and a breath of fresh air from all the usual mumbo jumbo that happens at school. Ms. Bartlett plans to bring more projects of this caliber to her class. She plans to have the class raise chickens, which could be a very interesting project. I am excited to see what the future for this class holds.
Mrs. Montgomery’s
RECIPE
of the
MONTH
Homemade Hot Chocolate Ingredients • • • • • •
2 cups whole milk 2 tbsp. Sugar 4 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chopped, about ¾ cup Whipped cream optional Candy cane optional Mini-marshmallows optional
Instructions 1. Combine milk and sugar in a small saucepan and place on the stovetop over medium heat. 2. While the milk is heating place the chopped chocolate in the microwave and heat for 30 seconds. 3. Take the chocolate out of the microwave and stir it. 4. Return to the microwave and heat for another 30 seconds, remove and stir. 5. Continue to heat and stir the chocolate in 30 second intervals until melted. 6. When the milk reaches the scalding point (180 degrees F, with bubbles on the side), turn off the heat and add the melted chocolate, whisking to combine. Top with whipped cream or marshmallows if using, and stir with the candy cane.
Enjoy! Notes *Make sure you don’t overheat the milk. You want it to just have bubbles on the sides, about 180 degrees F. You do not want the milk to boil *If you use a sweeter chocolate such as semisweet or milk chocolate, you may want to reduce or eliminate the sugar altogether. You can always sweeten to taste at the end.
Apple releases new generation of AirPods
by Art Weller, Staff Writer
Apple has a fantastic line of products and recently they have done it again and produced another demanding product. This product happens to be the AirPods Pro. The difference between the AirPods of the first generation and the second generation AirPods were very subtle. With a boost of talk time from an hour and a half to three hours, the second generation of AirPods was much more convenient to talk and listen to your favorite jams. Although it followed the same design as the first generation of AirPods, the second generation also had improvements to the audio and voice quality. With Apple’s new AirPods Pro, there are significant changes from old to new. The new AirPods Pro have a new IPX4 water and sweat resistant design. They also feature advanced on-device controls which is an upgrade from the basic on-device controls from the previous generations of AirPods. The sound has some improvements including Adaptive EQ and active noise cancellation. AirPods Pro come standard with a wireless charging case, and feature an H1 chip which only the second
generation of airpods had. Critics say that the AirPods Pro are most comfortable to wear everyday with the silicone tips that push into your ear canal, rather than the hard Airpods of the first or second generation. Most say that the active noise cancellation is very well put together as it pushes away all exterior sound like that of a jet engine. Personally I believe that the case is a little too wide for my liking, but the quality of sound and advanced controls of the AirPods Pro make up for the design of the charging case. AirPods are a great way to listen to music and look fresh in any occasion. They are very good especially when comparing them to the knock off AirPods that sell on most social media accounts. The knock off AirPods usually are larger in size, and have a similar quality in audio. Although I do know that some of the knock off AirPods tend to crack if you listen to them with music all the way up for long periods of time. So any generation of AirPods is better than the knock offs, but if I were to choose between them all, I’d have to go with the new AirPods Pro.
Page 4
December 18, 2019
RAM’S EAR
The front view of the Fredrick Reines Hall at uc irvine.
College of the month:
UC Irvine
by Amber Tonnesen, Staff Writer
The wait is over... Frozen 2 is finally here by Bryan Rish, Staff Writer
“Frozen” was the biggest animated movie back in 2013 and broke records all around the world. Even the soundtrack for the movie reached No. 1 for three weeks in January of 2014, surpassing Beyoncé’s album, “Beyoncé”. Everyone absolutely loved the movie and demanded a sequel. Disney finally listened to the fans and six years later, they released “Frozen 2”. Once again, Disney has made another hit. Frozen 2 broke the record for the biggest opening for an animated movie ever. The film made $350 million worldwide opening weekend. The critics gave it a 77% on rotten tomatoes but the fans gave it a whopping 92%. The main reason why the critics say it’s “ok” is because they say it doesn’t live up to the first movie, but it is still “a dazzling adventure into the unknown.” Frozen 2 seems to pick up not too long after the first movie. Everyone is happily together and Elsa is still the Queen of Arendelle, but something is a little off
with Elsa. The original five are back, Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven. They all have to work together and help Elsa as she sets out on another journey to the enchanted forests and the dark seas beyond Arendelle to discover the truth about her family and her magical powers. If I were to describe this movie in one word, it would be “magical”. You get to see a lot more of Elsa’s powers and learn how she got them. I can see why the critics say it doesn’t live up to the first one because I feel like they kind of rushed it at some parts, but I still think the movie was great. There was comedy, more bops, amazing animation, more action, and a happy ending. Since it’s Disney it is emotional at some parts but it will still make you laugh and smile throughout the movie. I personally think that it wasn’t a good idea to make a sequel because I thought the first one was so good, but once again Disney delivered another great memorable family movie.
Where does the internet go from here? by Jason Spearman, Staff Writer
It’s 2019 and we are less than a month pend on it to communicate with each other away from being in the new decade, which or see what others are doing and it takes will bring on many new changes.One of away the fact that we should be social with those many changes is the way we use the each other.” Next up was Tyler Abood, who was internet. Some RVHS students have ideas on where the direction of the internet is asked the same question, and his answer was, “ the internet is going to distance going. people even more. It takes the Brook Summitt was “I wish I enjoyment of people around you asked on where she thought the direction of the internet didn’t use I feel.” he added, “ I wish I didn’t Instagram. I think its a waste was going and what apps she Snapchat use of time, so I barely use it.” wishes she didn’t use. Her because Dominic Vieira said, “the response was, “I have mixed emotions about how the in- it’s wedged internet is going in an upward direction as far as technology and ternet will change. It could be amazing and advance to be its way into medicine, but I think it’ll only extremely useful or it could everyone’s keep advancing as we get older.” “I wish I didn’t have to use Twittake a turn and become bad lives..” for people to talk on the inter- - Brook Summitt, Sophomore ter because it can be too graphic at times, which turns the appeal net about each other or use it to belittle others. I think the of the app down.” With these answers here, the students internet is useful but at the same time we should just be involved with each other think the internet is headed in an interestorganically rather than doing everything ing and unexpected path. we’ll only know with time but how long till we see a signifonline.” When asked about what apps she icant change new technology coming in. It wishes she didn’t use, she said, “I wish I could be 20 or more years before seeing the didn’t use Snapchat because it’s wedged next big advancement in society, or it could its way into everyone’s lives and we de- be just around the corner?
UC Irvine, a college located in Irvine, California has many amusing and interesting things about it. For example, UC Irvine has over 69 majors and 89 distinct undergraduate degrees for you to choose from. The school might be a little challenging to get in though, the average GPA they accept is a 3.92 with a 40 percent chance of getting in. Typical SAT scores are, Reading and Writing 490-620, and Math 570-710 If you do get into the school the average annual cost is $32,930 and the out of state annual cost is $59,612. UC Irvine can be easier to get in if you had good grades, but “There’s more to a UCI student than a great academic record. At UCI, we also value uniqueness. So whether or not you have the highest GPA or college entrance exam scores, we want to know what distinguishes you from everyone else,” claims the UC Irvine website. But just like any other college, they
also have scholarships that are available, UC Irvine athletic program supports teams for 18 NCAA division sports including men’s baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and water polo, and women’s basketball, cross country, golf, indoor track & field, soccer, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and water polo. With their great mascot Peter the Anteater! Irvine California is located near Los Angeles, which if perfect for students looking to explore from home but also to not be too far from it. While attending college there are many fun sights that you can have the chance to see. Like its beaches, hiking trails, coves and tide pools. Even if you are an underclassman or are just planning to not go to college it is always a good idea to keep your grades up in order to have the option to get into interesting colleges just like UC Irvine.
Financial Services Products ANNUITIES LIFE INSURANCE LONG TERM CARE DISABILITY INSURANCE MEDICARE SUPPLEMENTS INDIVIDUAL MEDICAL & DENTAL GROUP BENEFITS
Rio Vista Insurance & Financial Services Office Location 6 N. Front Street, Rio Vista, CA 94571 CA Insurance License #0673906
December 18, 2019
Page 5
RAM’S EAR
Explore creativity in Art Club Fall Athletes Honored by Taylor Holyfield, Staff Writer
Art Club is a fun and interesting club that was created for students at Rio Vista High School to explore their creative side and learn some new things about art. Anyone and everyone is welcome to sign up. President of the club, Sydney Saldana, and Vice President, Caroline Upham, are both in the AP art program. You don’t have to be in a higher art class to be in the club, all levels of art students are encouraged to participate. Art Club has been working on a few different things, including making a calendar showing the artwork of students at our school. Mr. Rivera, the advisor of running the Art Club, is also making t-shirts and selling them to raise extra money for our Rio Vista art program for more art supplies and tools that everyone who takes an art class can use. Money will also go to educational trips that students participating in Art Club will enjoy to help further their knowledge on famous work. The calendar should hopefully arrive
by the first week of December, the latest arrival would be early or second week of December. Mr. Rivera hopes to start selling them before Christmas break and will be selling the calendars for a price of ten dollars each. The members who helped create it and the students whose art work are presented are very excited for everyone to enjoy it. If you’re looking for something new and a great way to spend your time while discovering a new side of creativity, Art Club is a fantastic way to do that. Every time you engage in a new or complex activity, your brain creates new connections between brain cells. Your brain’s ability to grow connections and change throughout your lifetime is called brain plasticity or neuroplasticity. Drawing, painting, or molding objects from clay has been scientifically proven to help people to deal with different kinds of trauma.
A glimpse into history’s banned books with Ms. Tygert
at Sports Awards Night by Lily Griffin, Staff Writer
The Fall Sports Awards were held on November 20, 2019 in the theater to honor athletes playing football, volleyball, cheer, and cross country. Chris Medders, LuAnn Haley, Ann Arroyo, Judie Adgate,
and Noelle Gomes all gave out awards to the athletes who showed the most talent, hard work, or improvement. The following students received awards:
-Junior Varsity Volleyball-
Most Valuable Player- Sophia Saldana Coaches Award- Greta Dole Defensive Player of the Year- Bella Saldana Offensive Player of the Year-Maia Stone
-Varsity Volleyball-
Offensive Player of the Year- Katie O’Connor Most Spirited- Josie Preston Sacrifice Award- Amber Griswold Most Improved/Coaches Award- Madi Davis All League- Amber Griswold Honorable Mention All LeagueCaroline Upham, Olivia Roberts, and Kaylee Kitchens
-Junior Varsity Football-
Team Most Valuable Player- Tony Bellante Most Valuable Lineman- Spencer Emigh Best Offensive Player- Josh Davis Mr. Football- Trevor Coad
-Varsity Football-
Most Valuable Player- Ethan Medders Most Valuable Offensive Player- Zach Davi Most Valuable Defensive Player- Boone Hurley Mr. Football- Tuck Forbes Photo by: Jaqueline Leal
All LeagueEthan Medders, Drew Mackey, Boone Hurley, Anthony Gonzalez Honorable MentionKawika Makua, Richie Zamarripa, Kamren Robles, Zach Davi Nathan Hearn and Ben Mcfarlane kicking it in the reading nook enjoying their banned books.
-Junior Varsity Cheer-
by Jaqueline Leal, Associate Editor
Over the course of history, many books have been banned for innappropriate content from schools, countries, and religious organizations. Although book banning is still in effect today, English teacher Ms. Tygert is encouraging her students to read the books that were once banned. Ms. Tygert’s newest addition to her classroom is her “Banned Book Reading Nook”, which contains a library of banned books and a flexible seating area. To fund the money for her project, Ms. Tygert created a DonorsChoose account describing what her project was and shared it onto her Facebook page. Within the first three days her project was halfway funded, and a month later an anonymous donor donated the rest. When Ms. Tygert was a kid, she wasn’t allowed to read Harry Potter, which made her want to read it more. Now as a teacher, she believes that allowing her students to read banned books, “makes it more interesting and it makes you want to read it and find out why it was banned.” So far, the “Banned Book Reading Nook” has gotten a positive response. On the first day, three books were checked and the flexible seating, which includes beanbags, has gotten the biggest response, mostly from disruptive students. Ms. Tygert has noticed that when the disruptive students sit on the beanbags, “they’re not disruptive anymore bacause they know they’re not allowed to sit there unless they’re doing work and quiet… so they’re going to behave themselves.” So far, Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan has gotten the biggest response from Ms. Tygert’s students. The book ex-
amines the relationships and hardships of contemporary gay teenagers, and its purpose is to call attention to the intolerance still suffered by gays today. Two Boys Kissing has been banned in religious organizations because of homophobic religion activists, and was #5 on ALA’s Banned and Challenged Books of 2016. Some of the other books in the “Banned Book Reading Nook” are Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The book Speak is about Melinda Sordino, who called the cops on a high school party she was at, causing everyone to socially reject her. Later on in the book it is revealed that she called the cops because she was raped. After that, Melinda opens up about her experience, encouraging other girls to open up about their story too. Although Speak has won several awards and has been translated into 16 languages, it has been challenged by schools in Missouri for its glorification of underage drinking, cursing, and premarital sex. Ray Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451, takes place in a dystopian society that burns books to prevent dangerous thoughts or unhappy concepts, and tells the story of Guy Montag, a fireman who questions the book-burning policy, causing him to undergo extraordinary suffering as a result. Fahrenheit 451 was banned in the United States because in the book, the Bible was burned, offending many Christians. Ms. Tygert’s “Banned Book Reading Nook” is open to anyone at school. She hopes that her library has a positive impact on students and makes reading more exciting for them.
Happy Holidays
F R O M T H E R V H S R A M S E A R S TA F F
Most Valuable Cheerleader- Dawna Coad Most Improved- Synia Reed
-Varsity Cheer-
Most Valuable Cheerleader- Bailey Adgate Most Improved- Justine Simonis
-Cross Country-
Team Most Valueble Player- Edgar Rodriguez and Yocelyn Corona Team Captain- Sam Esperson Spirit of the Sport- Fisher Lyon and Greta Dole Best Underclassmen- Alex Ornelas Most Improved- Jackie Lopez All League- Stephanie Corona
Academic All League Players 3.5 GPA or Better! Volleyball Stacy Gomez Amber Griswold Kaylee Kitchens Jessica Mingay Madison Myer Katie O’Connor Josie Preston Olivia Roberts Sydney Saldana Caroline Upham
Cheer Bailey Adgate Savannah Arias Emma Bellante Dawna Coad Maria Elias Lily Griffin Josephine Gribsvad Liseth Mendoza Justine Simonis Lexie Steinbrook Ashlee Weller Zoe White
Football Spencer Emigh Tuck Forbes Aidan Frisbie Daniel Hurley Kawika Makua Ethan Medders Kamren Robles Rex Torres Andrew Tyler Art Weller Richie Zamaripa
Cross Country Per Andersson Stephanie Corona Yocelyn Corona Kayla Delk Scarlett Dole Sam Esperson Wyatt Hagan Fabrizio Lazo Jackie Lopez Fisher Lyon Alex Ornelas McKenna Pratt Edgar Rodriuez Donny Roos Bella Saldana
Page 6
New and improved Ag Mechanics class
RAM’S EAR
by Pete Rossi, Associate Editor
welding that uses a consumable electrode to melt pieces of metal together. Another project the class hopes to get done is making some kind of barbeque pit. There will also be another mechanics class next block which will be Ag Mech 2-4, the next class in the ag mechanics pathway. Along with learning more advanced mechanics topics, the students who take this class will have to go through a job interview process and create a personal portfolio for themselves. Ms. Bartlett wants to get her students ready for things that her students may encounter after high school. The class is planning on doing a fundraiser for the winter season. They are planning on creating snowmen out of different pieces of metal to sell. This would help support the program and help them buy materials and tools for the class. The class also gets some donations from companies like Paul Graham and California Welding who they also purchase a lot of their items from. Ms. Bartlett has done an amazing job with the ag mechanics program so far. She is hoping that when her students leave her class, they will leave with more hands-on skills and general useful life skills. The future of the mechanics program is in good hands.
Radio Rio provides a unique experience for students by Jeff Contreras, Guest Contributor
When people think about the Radio program at RVHS, the first thing that pops into their head is a student simply pressing “On Air” and “Off Air” buttons, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. There are a series of steps and procedures that are incorporated when going on the radio, which makes the experience that much better. In the radio room, there’s a computer with a playlist of over 9,000 songs that are in automation, constantly providing Rio Vista with some good tunes. The computer is located on what is called, “the board”, which is basically the brain of the radio where all the mixing happens, along with controlling the microphones. When the user decides to go live, they turn down the automation, which is the music being broadcast by the playlist on the computer. When the automation is turned down, the mics are then turned up. This means that the music has now stopped and the microphones are now broadcasting live. The radio has a very neat feature called “dump,” which essentially is a safety net for those who do a little “oopsie” while in air. When the “Dump” feature is enabled, it automatically cuts 10 seconds off of the live broadcast. When getting off air, the same process is repeated, but in reverse. The microphones are turned down and the automation is turned back on. Students in the radio class also have the option of interviewing other students and teachers on campus. Many times
Radio enthusiasts, Nathan Hearn, Jason Spearman, and Pete Rossi, talk it up live on Radio Rio 91.5 FM.
photo courtesy of Julie Griffin
Rio Vista High School’s agricultural mechanics class has had new life breathed into it this school year. The program was taken over by Ms. Bartlett, the high school’s newest ag teacher. Ms. Bartlett specialized in mechanics when she went to Chico State so she has a lot of ideas for the ag mechanics class, some of which she has already done. As of this article being released, the Ag Mech 1 class is underway. Students have already done a number of projects since the start of the class. First they made marshmallow shooters out of PVC pipe. Then they learned how to solder copper pipes together as well as how to fix or redo an electric circuit. One of the bigger projects the class has done was painting the student parking lot. All the lines are now a bold and bright white. Next they were taught how to tie proper knots for different situations. And as of this article being written, one of the latest things the class has done is MIG welding. MIG welding is a type of welding that uses an electric arc to heat up a piece of metal which causes it to melt and join. Ms. Bartlett also has future ideas for how she wants the mechanics class to go. The next thing she plans to do is have the students stick weld. This is another type of
December 18, 2019
when students go on air with other guests they talk about a variety of topics, such as sports, current news, or just random chatting. An activity that they’ve experimented on air is open a mystery bag that contains an odd food item. One time we had a group try chicken flavored candy canes on air, and let me tell you, those things were awful! Another time a group tried a couple of chicken wings and a few of them had an insanely spicy hot sauce on them. Let’s just say some people had a really bad time that day. The radio class has plenty of captivating features that many of their listeners have learned and loved. Radio club will be starting up in Block B for those of you who want to try out their bantering skills on the air.
December and January birthdays RVHS celebrates Veterans December 1
Hannah Riedmiller
December 3 Sam Esperson
December 9
William Lindsay
January 4
David Torres Hernandez
January 5 Austin Rice
January 6
December 10
Devin Petersen Conrad Vosefski
December 11
Colby Eisenhour-Libby
December 12
Daniel Hurley Skylar Silveira-Logsdon
December 13
Ashanti Surrell Marshall
Diego Torres
Stephanie Corona Garcia Deanelly Martinez Guadalupe Lopez-Manjarrez
December 16
January 7 January 8 January 9
January 10
Alan Gomez Tucker Mayfield
January 11 David Forbes
January 12
Jimena Torres Ruiz
Alessandro Garcia Gonzalez
Jose Chavez Sumain Chiv Yalicza Fernandez Munguia
Ofelia Montano
December 17 December 18 Isaiah Molina
December 22 Ilikea Brown Trevan Summitt
December 24
George Aguilar Perez
December 25 Kiara Perkins Jason Spearman
January 13 January 19
Dakota Balcer Jacob Rivera Calvo
January 21
Tyler Abood Jennifer Chavez Stephanie Fuller Anthony Gonzalez Briana Shafer
January 26
December 26
Brandon Aragon Alisi Hagen Kaylee Medlock
December 27
Angel Aguilar Mota
December 28
Blessing Mentee
Bailey Adgate Savana Groves
Madison Belcher
Leticia Padilla
Gabriella Rutledge
Jorge Arce Jason Lacy
Destiny Grayson Meraiah Groves
December 29 December 31 January 3
Marco Rosales
photo by Alex Tejeda
Eric Avalos Andreya Ayers Ethan Medders Beatrice Perez Alvarado Elicia Rodriguez
Day with flag ceremony
January 27 January 28 January 29 January 30 January 31
Julian Mena-Julian
by Miguel Tejeda, Staff Writer
Veterans Day is a holiday celebrated in the United States honoring all military veterans, which are persons who have served in the Armed Forces. This day is held on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the fighting of World War I. This armistice, signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, finally concluded the fighting between Germany and the Allies on the Western Front. A year later, President Woodrow Wilson declared this day as Armistice Day, honoring those who served during the war. In 1954, the holiday was changed to Veterans Day, to honor all veterans from every war, including World War II and the Korean War. At Rio Vista High School, Veterans Day was observed on Friday, November 8. The whole school headed outside to witness the flag raising ceremony. A guest speaker, local veteran Noel O’Brien, made a speech. He spoke about the significance of this event and expressed admiration for the town because everyone shows patriotism by always being there for each other. For example, a home for veterans is being constructed faster than anticipated with the help of the community. O’Brien also men-
tioned that in the battlefields of World War I, poppies grew after the fighting — this is why the poppy is used to remember the soldiers who died. After Noel O’Brien finished speakin, it was time for the ceremony. The Eagle Scouts, consisting of RVHS students Eamonn Drury, Tuck Forbes, Fisher Lyon and William Lyndsay, as well as two other younger Scouts, unfolded the flag. They then raised it on the flagpole while saluting it, while the school watched this ceremony respectfully. One of the Eagle Scouts in this event, Tuck Forbes, has been participating in this event for two years. He says the flag is raised “to symbolize respect to our country, the flag, those who have served, those who have died, and those who are currently protecting us and will be for as long as there is an America to protect.” Tuck feels that this event is important to have at the school because it brings the community together to celebrate veterans on this important day, and feels honored when asked to participate in these events. Once the flag had been raised, the ceremony concluded and students went back to class after witnessing this honorary remembrance ceremony for veterans.
December 18, 2019
RAM’S EAR
Page 7
Girls soccer hoping to Boys varsity basketball improve after last year’s struggles, but is ready disappointing season for improvement
Freshmen Daniella Roman and Berenice Sandoval having positive vibes after close game with Natomas.
by Lily Griffin, Staff Writer
After last year’s girls soccer team’s devastating season with no wins and 13 losses, the 2019-2020 girls soccer team hopes to turn that around. This year’s team is coached by Ana Roman. Coach Ana has been coaching soccer for four years now. Previously, she has coached a U12 girls team, then moved up to a U14 team for two years. She has also coached Riverview Middle School’s Co-Ed soccer team for a season, and recently coached AYSO’s Delta Thunder team this fall, which was a U19. The team started tryouts on September 30 and finished October 4. While tryouts were happening, Coach Ana evaluated the girls on their ball control, defensive, and offensive skills. She also had the girls scrimmage each other to observe their skills in a game and to ability play with others as a team. After tryouts were over, Coach Ana kept 18 players on her team with seven freshmen, five sophomores, two juniors, and five seniors. The captains are Junior Marivella Torres and Sopho-
more Greta Dole. There was conditioning for three weeks. The girls did sprints, a couple mile runs, and core body workouts. “I think the season will go better this year because we can only improve. Coach Ana already has us doing a lot of different drills to help us get ready for our games, so I have high hopes for this season,” stated Sophomore Captain Greta Dole about the expectations for this season. On Friday and Saturday, November 22 and 23, the girls drove up to Stockton and played in a tournament. On the 22nd, they played Stagg High and unfortunately lost 0-2. On the 23rd, they played Casa Robles and Millennium and lost 0-2 and 1-4 with Sophomore Greta Dole with the amazing goal and Junior Caroline Upham with the assist. The first home game is December 2 against Millennium, girls start at four and boys start and six. Come support the girls and boys for hopefully their first win!
Booster Club Dinner and Dance Rio Vista Booster Club’s Annual Dinner Dance and Raffle is scheduled for Saturday, January 25 at the RV/Isleton Club Portuguese Hall. - All Rio Vista students participate in extracurricular activities FREE OF CHARGE. This is made possible by the fundraising activities of the Booster Club. - Support RVHS Booster Club and athletics by purchasing a $150/ couple ticket to the dinner dance which includes dinner, dancing, and reverse raffle. -Tickets may be purchased at the school office
Photo by: Tuck Forbe
s
RVHS BOOSTER CLUB SUPPORTS ATHLETICS, ARTS, AND ACADEMICS
Sophomore Sam Lara making a fantastic lay up and making the two points.
Basketball season is here and everyone couldn’t be more excited. Last year, the boys had a remarkable season, but they have lost all five starting players and a couple more. “We have a young team with only two seniors, hoping we have five to step up and take on the role as the starting five.” stated Coach Baldwin. The team has been putting in work since November 4 to ensure a great season. Tryouts were straight to the point: if you didn’t show up, you didn’t make the team. This made it extremely easy on the coach’s side because they didn’t have to make cuts. This team feels prepared to take on the season. “Every practice is a good, and productive practice. We feel ready to move into game time but still have a lot to improve on,” stated Junior Art Weller. The Rams have practice six days a week, unlike most sports which only have five days of practice. Some of the players have said that they feel like as a whole they could be more driven and committed but are positive they can pull it together for league. One player in specific is never not playing basketball. “Playing travel ex-
poses me to great teams and pushes me to play my best, I love learning new things and bringing them back to my team, ” commented Junior Kawika Makua. This team began playing games November 22 against Natomas high school. “We had great effort but fell short, we will learn from that game and move forward,” stated Junior Ben Sisneros. The Rams faced our rival team, the Delta Saints on Tuesday December 3. The boys dominated and won 65-38. “It felt good to finally win, our defense was on point. Our offense just needs a little work but other than that, it’s all uphill from here. We are gonna work and hopefully have a good outcome,” stated Senior Richie Zamarripa. The Rams are on a slow start for the season, but hopeful to get the ball rolling and get some more wins under their belt. “We have a lot of potential but we need to work on being a team and producing a better offense,” commented Senior Logan Boothe. Once they get going this team will be a force to be reckoned with.
Lady Rams Basketball off to a fresh start
Photo by: Tuck Forbes
Photo courtesy of: Berenice Sandoval
by Amber Griswold, Staff Writer
Senior Kaylee Kitchens catching a rebound.
by Maia Stone, Staff Writer
It’s that time of the year again... basketball season. This year’s Varsity team has ten girls and brought up two underclassmen, Sophomore Brook Summitt and Freshman Gracie Medders. “I’m feeling pretty confident about this season, we have a great group of girls and we all have been practicing hard and I’m excited to see how it plays out on the court,” stated Junior Jessica Mingay. This year the team is being coached by Sierra Fawn and the team consists of five seniors: Katie O’Connor as a post, Olivia Roberts as a post, River Billoups as a shooting guard, Bailey Adgate as a guard, and Kaylee Kitchens as a guard. Three juniors: Josie Preston as a center, Jessica Mingay as a point guard, Deven Petersen as a guard, Sophomore Brook Summitt, as a point guard and Freshman Gracie Medders, as a post. “I feel this season is going to be good. We have a lot of girls that mesh well and practice like we play everyday,” commented Junior Josie Preston. Meanwhile, JV has ten girls as well and at first didn’t have a coach but then
Chris Medders, stepped up and volunteered to coach the JV girls. All the girls are off to a fresh start having only one returning player Sophomore Bella Saldana, “having a whole new team is really challenging because we have to learn how to work together and learn, each other’s strengths and weaknesses, but I think if we put in the work we can have a really great season. and are all excited to be working together as a team,” stated Sophomore Bella Saldana. Varsity and JV had their first game on Friday, November 22 at Natomas Highschool. Both JV and Varsity were nervous and also excited to play their first game. The Lady Rams took home a win against Natomas Highschool. Varsity had their second game on Saturday, November 23 against Western Sierra Collegiate Academy, but unfortunately losing with the score of 40-50. The Lady Rams have their next game Monday, December 2 against Saint Helena High School. Good luck Lady Rams!
Come out and support our Basketball, Soccer and Wrestling Teams over Winter Break!
Page 8
December 18, 2019
RAM’S EAR
JV Volleyball has reached Athletes of the Month its end of the season by Marivella Torres, Staff Writer
Bryan Garcia
Photo by: Amber Griswold
Varsity Boys Soccer
Kiara Perkins
Varsity Girls Soccer
He’s doing an outstanding job playing on a varsity team as a freshman and making a big difference in games. -Coach Francisco
She was the first player to volunteer to play goalie when no one wanted to play it. She works hard at practice and even during water breaks in practice she has some of her teammates help her continue practicing as goalie. Not only did she step up but she is doing a great job as goalie with a total of 38 saves in our last tournament. -Coach Anna
Fisher Lyon
Olivia Roberts
Girls getting ready for their final game with a team picture.
by Sophia Saldana, Staff Writer
The Lady Rams Junior Varsity Volleyball team ended their season on a great note winning second in league, losing only 2 games the entire season. They lost to the Linden Lions both times they played them, but they didn’t go down without a fight and made the Lady Lions work for the win. The Lady Rams had an upset halfway through their season when Sophomore and captain Bella Saldana injured herself. She was one of the JV teams’ starting outside hitters and a good one at that. She was unable to play for the remaining three games of the season. Despite this set back the Lady Rams finished out their season strong. First year player and Sophomore Genesis Lopez stepped up to fill in for Bella for the rest of the season. She states,”I was very nervous because Bella was really good, and I didn’t know if I was good enough to fill in for her. Once I got her rotation down it was exciting and fun.” The whole team stepped up to make up for the loss of their captain. Sophia Saldana filled in for her twin sister as captain for remaining games of the season. She states, “I thought it was a lot of fun. I love to encourage the girls and I hope that when I’m a senior I get the chance
to be a captain for the whole season.” Wednesday, November 20 was the Fall Sports Awards. A remarkable amount of the JV team got academic all league. These girls include Brook Summitt, Bella Saldana, Maia Stone, Gracie Medders, Greta Dole, Sophia Saldana, Lily Burch, and Daniella Roman. All the girls got recognized for their hard work and commitment during the season by coach Ann Arroyo. She then went on to give the awards. Sophomore Greta Dole got the coach’s award, Maia Stone won the outstanding offensive player award with an impressive 36 assists. Bella Saldana won the outstanding defensive player award, having the leading amount of digs on the team. Sophia Saldana got MVP for her overall outstanding performance this season with the leading amount of kills, blocks, serves, and aces. At the end of the night, it was announced that their coach Ann Arroyo would be retiring from volleyball after 4 years with the program along with a few others. They were recognized by Mrs. Gomes and Mrs. Turk for their commitment to their programs and athletes.
Just keep running...and running by Alex Tejeda, Staff Writer
beat her, we were all shocked I beat her. But it felt good, I finally got to brag to her about something,” Stephanie said laughing. During Championships, she ran a 5k in 23:45, beating her personal record from last year by almost three full minutes! Although Yocelyn did receive an injury to her foot, she didn’t let that stop her and still continued to run as hard as she could under the circumstances. Her best time this year was 24:02 compared to her previous best last year during section championships, coming in at 22:30. She was named captain at the beginning of the season for all her hard work and for her leadership characteristics. “I felt a lot of pressure, especially during runs and meets, but overall it felt good being recognized for all my dedication and hardwork.” All around, cross country had an alright but not a great season. Many were hoping to have a more successful season, especially after last year’s success, but even with their tremendous amount of hard work it was just out of reach.
Photo by:Liseth Mendoza
Just keep running, just keep running, running, running. This is what you have to keep repeating over and over in your head as you fight your own body to keep going as you race towards the finish line. You have to motivate yourself because running a 5k is a battle against yourself more than anything else, you have to push yourself to not quit running and keep going. It was always going to be a challenge to live up to last year’s success but the team took up this challenge and did their best to reach the top. Edgar Rodriguez, senior runner, made it the furthest out of all the boys, making it to section championships and came in 45th overall with a time of 20:37. This was a highlight over last year, where he had to step off the team after an injury. Some other boys who didn’t quite make it to subsections were Sophomores Sam Esperson and Alex Ornelas, and Junior Fisher Lyon. Stepping up to last year’s star, Aiden Mayhood, was always going to be the toughest challenge this year. “Aiden was the bet runner Rio will probably ever have, but Edgar was almost as good as he was,” praised Sophomore Alex Ornelas. This year’s star runner was looking to be Senior Team Captain Yocelyn Corona, but unfortunately along with two fellow runners, she was hit with an injury. After Yocelyn was injured, her younger sister Stephanie Corona, started to shine. “To be honest, I was kind of shocked I
Edgar Rodriguez pushing himself to reach the finish line.
Varsity Boys Basketball
Varsity Girls Basketball
Fisher has developed into an excellent post player in a short amount of time. He works hard and is highly coachable. He represents our core values as a basketball program. -Coach Baldwin
Her defense helped our team stay strong down low, no one got through her. Her drive to score made her a big threat down low, she has great intensity throughout the game! -Coach Sierra
Braeden McCann
JV Boys Basketball He is becoming a great leader on the floor. He is a hard worker builds up everyone around him. Always looking to better himself and his teammates. Love coaching him. -Coach Makua
Bella Saldana
JV Girls Basketball Bella is a quiet leader, but a great example as she is a hard worker and a very good teammate. She is a pretty good player too! Bella is an excellent student and good representative of the team on and off campus as well. -Coach Medders
Josh Gaxiola
Wrestling I have a lot of good candidates, but Josh has been the model for what we want in an athlete. Josh began weight training and mat work back in June. He trained all through the Summer, and off-season. Josh works hard at every practice and every morning weightlifting session. He has lost 20 lbs., and on Saturday he took 2nd place in his first tournament. -Coach Smith