Pioneer Valley HS
October 4, 2017
Issue 34, Vol. 3
Sports:
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Thurs 5-Oct 4:00 FR Fball @ Lompoc
Thurs 5-Oct 4/5/6 G F/JV/V Vball @ SJHS
Thurs 5-Oct 2:00 Mini Tourney @ Black Lake
Thurs 5-Oct 3:30 G V Tennis vs Paso Robles
Thurs 5-Oct 3:30 G JV Tennis @ Paso Robles
Fri 6-Oct 4:00 JV Fball vs Lompoc
Fri 6-Oct 7:00 V Fball vs Lompoc
Fri-Sat Oct 6-7 2:30 Wpolo @ AG Tourney
Sat 7-Oct TBD PVHS JV GVBall Tourney
Sports & Activities
Activities:
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Wednesday, October 4
FCA - lunch - Room 555
GLO Club - lunch - Room 551/552
Club Salsa Caliente - Lunch - Room 603
FBLA - Lunch - Room 431
Thursday, October 5
Center Stage - lunch - Room 202
FCCLA - lunch - Room 5313
Athletic teams rally - Lunch - Amphitheater
Friday, October 6
All School Rally - schedule is on the website
Pioneer Valley FFA Takes First Place
-Andrea Meza
Many groups from the Future Farmers of America (FFA) club took top honor at the Santa Barbara Section Speaking Competition that hosted over 450 students and 50 teams from the Arroyo Grande, Lompoc, Nipomo, Santa Maria, Santa Ynez, and Righetti FFA Chapters in San Louis Obispo at Cal Poly State University. This Opening and Closing Ceremony competition is held yearly for many FFA Chapters in the area. Pioneer Valley has experienced this competition numerous amount of times, but the year of 2017 was the year one of the groups took the 1st place banner. These students have put in great effort and all had individual outcomes to this experience. Here are some their responses….
How long have you been in FFA? Do you enjoy FFA? What do you think the purpose of this competition is?
"I have been in FFA for 4 years. It is such a fun experience! Some of the best memories I have made throughout high school were made in FFA. I think this contest serves for many purposes one of them being a more competitive way the other a more educational way. I want to congratulate everyone for putting in the hard work and time needed to accomplish one of our goals for this year. We as a collective group have earned this and hopefully next year’s competition we can continue to add to the history of our chapter. This win is for all those that have come before us and the future members to see of what can be accomplished. The competitive purpose would be that to show the other schools what's up. It's the first speaking competition of the year, it's where each chapter has an opportunity to prove they are the best, to prove that they have what it takes to win this year. This competition really brings fire. After this contest everyone wants to win. They all have that aspiration to be at the other schools. The educational purposes of this contest would be to help enhance the public speaking abilities of individuals. This year our chapter officer team was able to place as the first high school team bringing home the very first banner in PV history! This was a definitely a turning point, fueling our chapter with ambition and desire for more success!" -Yadira Barrera (12)
How do you think your team did overall? How did you think you do on this competition? As a 4-year member of Pioneer valley FFA how do you think it's changed your life or character?
"The victory by the officer team is a win for the AG Leadership Class, for our chapter, and school. I am extremely proud of the hard work that everyone has put in to this accomplishment. What a great accomplishment to bring home the 1st banner is something special that this class and group of students will forever remember. My team did amazing, for the past three years placing 5th and 6th, to now gaining the title of 1st High Team in the Officer division our senior year shows the amount of work that we all put in. Everyone on the team followed the script exactly and delivered each of their parts beautifully. Being a 4-year member of Pioneer Valley FFA, my life has taken a turn in the best direction possible. I hope to one day pursue a career as a high school agriculture teacher, so I can give back to the organization and people that have given me so much. We could not have accomplished this without the guidance from our advisors. This win was not just for the officer team, this win was for our chapter and school. We could not be proud to bring this banner back to everyone at Pioneer Valley! Thank you to the teachers and administration that have supported our program throughout the journey.” -Daniel Joseph (Dj) Claborn (12)
How long have you been in FFA? What do you enjoy about FFA? How do you think you and your team did at the opening and closing competition?
"This is my second year in FFA. FFA is such a fun organization/club. I enjoy it because I get to meet new people from different schools and cities and learn about agriculture in many ways. We also get to go to different cities for fun competitions. My team didn’t go into the final around but I think we did the best we can and it was a close one. Even though my team didn’t place our chapter officers did. They got 1st place and brought home the first banner for Pioneer Valley opening and closing." -Aliyah Peinado (10)
How long have you been in FFA? Has the opening and closing competition helped you in any way? Did you enjoy it? What have you learned from this competition?
"I’ve been in FFA for two years. The opening closing event helped me because it showed me to not be afraid to speak in front of a large group of people. I enjoyed it because we got first place for our class!! This competition taught me to do everything possible and to do it to the best of my ability, and I will get results." -Nick Vasquez (10)
How many students went to the opening and closing competition? How do you feel about those students taking first place in PV history? Do you feel that FFA can change a student’s life?
"There were 12 teams and there are 6 students per team, so about 72 students attended this event. Our officer team was first place, with two outstanding officers. Our freshman novice team took third place with two outstanding officers. Out of 41 open teams, which are mixed teams, we had the second, third, and sixth place teams. It’s exciting, for the first ever banner brought home from opening and closing, first ever symbol that we get to bring a banner for all the other students that have done this before and they have come up short at least they’ll be able to look at it to hopefully encourage them. I absolutely think FFA can change a student’s life. It’s changed my own, so I know for a fact that FFA can change their lives, their futures, their careers, their experiences, and prepare them whether the students go into the agriculture route or not. FFA is an awesome club." -Mr. Ponce
Las Vegas Shooting; How Can This Be
On October 1, the Las Vegas strip was occupied by bustling country music lovers celebrating the Route 91 Harvest festival attended by over 20,000 people. Brusquely at 10:08 pm, the attendees were met with the sound of gun fire coming from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel which rang out for minutes and halted to then bring forth another round of ammunition. The more sympathetic term "gunman" should not apply to this man, who was 64-year-old Stephen Paddock from Mesquite, Nevada, he is a man who used terror against a large group of civilians; a terrorist. Regardless of whether he was mentally ill, authorities breached the hotel room and found Paddock dead, who they believe to have killed himself shortly after committing an act filled with cowardice and hatred. The shooting resulted in the death of 59 people and injury of over 500 on Sunday night which has then filled Las Vegas hospitals to the brim with the injured hundreds. Thousands are lining up at blood banks to donate the much-needed blood for patients effected by the shooting. You are able to donate to the victims of the Las Vegas shooting by clicking here: https://www.gofundme.com/dr2ks2-las-vegas-victims-fund
More on the shooting:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/us/las-vegas-shooting-what-we-know/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/us/politics/terrorism-las-vegas-attack.html
-JONATHON HEDLUND, ZANDER MORENO,
& DIANA VALENZUELA GARCIA
Brianna's brother was in the vicinity of the shooting at the time it occurred.
"My family members and I were very concerned about the side of my family who live in that area and we kept the people who were there at the scene, in our prayers. I think people can help by making stricter laws on gun control and be aware that anyone can be a predator. When I first heard the news I was shocked, and I believe no one deserves to be in a life or death situation at an event where they would least expect it. Knowing my sibling was safe made me realize that life is too precious to take advantage of and we need to cherish the important people in our life. I strongly believe this wasn't a terrorist attack because although everyone blames terrorists for shootings, there are crazy people in the ugly world, and it's fascinating that a man can wake up one morning and decide to take people's lives. As I was saying, yes, I do believe that gun purchases should require more background checks, but given to those who have the intentions of using it to protect themselves or their family members." Brianna Peinado (11)
"You know I think that it’s a horrible thing that happened and it's something that the hotel should've checked on the guy that had the guns because if they would've checked on that certain guy none of this would've happened. But they didn’t know this was going to happen at all so it's not their fault but yet at the same time it is because they need to check on the people that come in and check in to rent a room. This is just insane how it happened out of nowhere on a day of a concert similar to what happened in Orlando. This society has gone wrong and it needs to be fixed before it all drops to a horrific tragedy. My prayers go out to the families affected by this and the victims that were at the concert, this is just sad how a person decided to finish innocent lives just because they want to" -Alan Garcia
"I feel like this shooting is surprising because the same thing happened in Orlando and know it happens in Las Vegas. This just disgusts me and I don’t know where this world has gone. Before all this happened, the world wasn’t like this, everything was just perfect. My opinion on the shooting is that its disrespectful how a person decides to ruin several lives in just a few seconds. This person could've been stopped if the personnel from the hotel would've checked his bags and his room. I think all this could be stopped if all the hotels would check everyone's bags when they go in and check in to rent a room. If this were to happen in Santa Maria everything would be different, everyone's bags would be checked before they arrive at the airport. If I was those affected by the shooting I would want to get help from anyone in the world no matter who they are; help is help. I believe that these victims would want to get help especially those families affected by the shooting. Hospitals right now are being packed with the hundredss of victims that have been shot and are fighting for their lives. These victims deserve to live it's not their fault they got shot and they deserve another chance." -Anthony Ramirez (11th) (left)
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"I feel like this is just very sad and very heart touching. These victims were just having fun and they were out like if they were teenagers, some of them were. This just doesn’t add up, the same situation happened in Orlando and now it happened in Las Vegas. What makes us think it won't happen again? These are just things that happen out of nowhere and we need to stop this because its affecting everyone as a community. This just makes me sick to my stomach that no one wants to help them. I feel like the shooting was horrible and it needed to be stop. Many lives were taken away because there is ignorant people out there that don't care about someone's well-being. This guy that shot people at the concert could be some lunatic that did this. It's just sad how he took 50 lives and they still had a long way to go. Many people have died in the U.S because of shootings and now the percentage is going to rise just because of this shooting. If I could help I would because I would like it if someone helped me if there was a shooting and I lost a loved one" -Lupita Bernal (11th) Right
"I was deeply affected more than my family was. I was always told by my family that Muslims were always the ones causing all these terrorist attacks. I felt like maybe people would help, during the attack, that they could sneak out quietly one by one and after the attack of Stephen Paddock, they would be there to comfort those that have lost their love ones or someone close perhaps. I felt petrified by the news. I do, in fact, believe that this was a terrorist attack. It's like shooting up a school full of innocent children. It's terrifying, imagine how everyone was during that concert terrified and confused. They ran or took cover while they could hear machine guns in the back ground. It's like imagining someone you love die in front of you or you being shot. It's no laughing matter, others may think it is. In my opinion, I feel as though the USA must make the law about gun control stricter. Why? It's not right to just randomly be sitting around and think, "you know what? I'm going to shoot up this big concert because why not." His family is left "dumbfounded" because they do not know what came over Stephen. I feel guilty to be jumping on his family because they don't know what came over him but I feel like it's the way he was raised. Because of what happened I blame his parents. Though people are donating money, blood, and much more so the support is strong and I very much appreciate it. I'd do the same. I just hope Vegas is staying safe now." -Angie Houston (9)
' My first reaction was sad that this is becoming the norm. I think we need to strengthen our gun laws and people should not have access to those kinds of weapons. I doubt that changes will happen due to the NRA.'' -Ms. Avrit
''...For instance, in the hotel maybe search their luggage, due to the guy caring 23 weapons. ... I had cousins there and they were lucky enough to survive and I am grateful that they did.''
-Ms. Ramos
'' It is a heartbreaking tragedy. ...we need stronger gun control like a better vetting system.''
-Ms. Castro
