News Briefs Campus acquires new upgrades Recycling bins added

Volume XLIII No. 1
Saddleback High School
Santa Ana, California 92707
October 21, 2011
Student achievement Year begins with many changes
passes expectations
BY JESSICA GUTIERREZ
BY ANGELINE ALCALA &
PERCILLA GUITIERREZ
Last year, Saddleback High
School made substantial growth in
our standardized test scores. The
school’s growth goal was eight points.
Saddleback surpassed the eight
points and grew a very impressive 23
points. This was a great improvement
and validates the work we are doing
as a Transformational School.
In 2010, Saddleback, along
with 99 other schools in the state, was
categorized as a “Persistently Low
Achieving Schools” (P.L.A.S.). The
State of California and the federal
government classified these schools
as “low-achieving” due to their lack
of improvement on standardized test
scores.
The overall number of points
needed on the federal and state point
system is 800. Schools are expected
to move toward that goal every year.
Unfortunately, Saddleback’s scores
went down instead of up for three
years, but they have been rising since
then.
With the added 23 points
from last year, our current score is
658. This was an enormous improvement for the campus.
Although we improved a
great deal, our Transformational status
required the school to add extra time
to each and every school day this year
in order to further our school’s growth.
Still, the school has been improving
and expects to continue improving.
With longer hours in the
school day, students have more time
in class and have an opportunity to
receive academic tutoring for hard-tograsp concepts. This time is expected
to enhance test scores on standardized exams help our scores improve
and complete our transformation.
When asked what would
happen if this new system does not
work and test scores do not improve,
Mrs. Erica Graves, Learning Director,
responded, “I don’t see us not growing. We may not grow fast, but I do not
think we will stop growing.”
Mrs. Graves added that,
“We will just have to continuously
check the new program and cancel
out things that don’t help us.”
Recycling bins added
to school grounds
New blue recycling bins
have been added to the campus
around the quad this school year.
The new recycling bins now offer the
chance to separate recyclables like
water bottles from normal trash. At lunch, students throw
away all their milk and juice cartons,
plastic sporks, wrappers, and water
bottles in the regular trash cans. Our
students now can help save energy by
using the new recyclying bins.
Before the recycling bins,
water bottles were thrown away in the
regular trash cans where they would
just go to waste. Now, the water bottles get separated from the waste and
recycled into something new. Some students are not
aware how the recycling bins are used
or that they even exist. Their presence
was not announced to students. They
just appeared. Cesar Chavez, senior,
says, “I have not noticed the recycling
bins or what we should put in them.”
Other students have noticed
them and find them beneficial. Josue
Perez, junior, states “Yes, I like the
idea of the recycling bins.” He says,
“It’s very helpful for the environment
and for the campus.”
Mr. Jerrold Morookian,
math teacher, explained why recycling
should be encouraged. “It’s important
so the waste landfills don’t get overused,” he said, “especially plastic because plastic doesn’t decompose” he
explained. “Also, so we won’t use up
natural resources such as wood or
aluminum.”
When told that students
have not noticed the recycling bins,
he replied, “I sure did when I walked
through an empty quad, but maybe
the students haven’t noticed them in a
crowded lunch time. To publicize them
would be helpful.”
According to Waste Management Orange County’s website,
“Californians bought more than 20.2
billion carbonated and non-carbonated drinks in aluminum, glass, plastic
and bi-metal containers last year. And
they recycled more than 12 billion of
those containers - the highest amount
ever in the state - which saves natural
resources, conserves energy, and extends the life of our landfills.”
Homecoming
The annual Homecoming game is
tonight at 7:00 p.m. The dance will
be tomorrow, October 22, in the gym.
The theme for this year’s Homecoming Dance is “Glampire Ball.”
Delayed starts
Classes will start at 8:50 on the following Mondays: October 24, 31, November 7, 14, 21, and 28.
Benchmark testing
Benchmark testing will be on the following days: Tuesday, October 25
will be the first social studies benchmark exam. The second mathematics benchmark will be Wednesday
November 9, and the second language arts benchmark test will be
November 15 and 16.
Parent conference
The annual Santa Ana Unified School
District parent conference will be held
on Saturday, October 25.
CAHSEE
On Tuesday November 1, the English portion of the High School Exit
Exam will be administered. The math
section will given on Wednesday November 2.
Both tests will only be for juniors and
seniors who have not passed one or
both parts of the test.
SAT
The SAT will be held on Saturday
November 5, here on campus. If
you are a junior and have free or reduced lunch, you are eligible to get
a fee waiver to take the test free of
charge.
Veterans’ Day
There will be no school on Friday,
November 11 in honor of the men
and women who have served our
country in times of war.
Six week grades
The second grading period ends on
Friday November 18. Make sure you
have turned in all your assignments
and done all your homework.
Thanksgiving Break
Thanksgiving Break will be from November 21-25.
BY VANESSA ESTRADA
News Briefs
If you are a returning student this fall, you may have noticed
the new staff, a difference in bell
schedules, and modification to school
landscaping. Saddleback High School
is currently undergoing a huge modernization project that will improve the
school’s atmosphere and technology
in ways that hopefully will improve
campus life and increase test scores.
One big change this year
is the school’s new bell schedule. Instead of arriving at 8:00 a.m., students
now arrive on campus to make it before 7:50 a.m. first period tardy bell.
Extra time was added to
each class. Every class period has
been extended to 56 minutes. ASAP
has been extended to 37 minutes,
allowing more time for tutoring. Last
year, students did not all go to the
tutoring that was offered before and
after school. Now, students can better
understand the material and still make
it to their zero periods, after school
sports, clubs, or activities.
Changes also have been
made to the way ASAP is used. Now,
students report to their regular ASAP
teachers every Monday (even on
delayed start days) and Fridays. On
other days, the ASAP schedule on
other days is Academic Tutoring that
runs like a block schedule. One week,
students have tutoring in periods one
through three from Tuesday through
Thursday. The following week, students have periods four through six.
Along with the changes in
times, there are modifications being
made to the school’s structure. Teachers in the Foreign Language and English Wings have been relocated to the
temporary bungalows along the field
area while the classrooms in those
areas are modernized by construction
crews.
Passing
periods
have
become more congested. Due to
changes with the bell schedule and
(Photo by Jessica Gutierrez)
THE FORUM GETS A FACELIFT- Workers have been modernizing the Forum
since the summer. The Forum will remain closed the entire year.
the school campus, students have had
troubles getting to classes on time.
All this is because of the
modernization on campus. Operational Administrator Ms. Jeanne Mellor explained what is going on: “It is a
modernization [that] actually requires
the school and facilities to meet laws
and regulations. The school was built
in 1960’s, so the school had to change
electrical wiring, which was exposed,
now is between the walls.”
Also, according to Ms. Mellor, the doorknobs are not round anymore due to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The school also
is getting new carpet, a fresh coat of
paint, and remodeled classrooms.
One large stall also will be added to
each restroom to accommodate ADA.
“The inside, such as: electrical, plumbing, data, HV/AC [heating/
air conditioning],” said Ms. Mellor, “has
changed the school to become more
energy efficient.”
She continued, explaining that, “change happens in phases.
Phase one is the Foreign Language
and English Wings, which will open
after Winter Break. Next, we will close
the Science and Social Studies Wing;
they will be worked on over the summer.”
Students, staff, and the
community all will gain something out
of this modernization. “A better first impression, it’s professional, welcoming,
and all classrooms will be getting bigger. Each classroom will have a Smart
Wall. This is an electronic whiteboard
that uses markers as highlighters, almost like an iPad.”
There will be “new desks,
and new chairs. We have increased
in technology; we are more accessible
to everyone. We are increasing updates on the school web page, creating more links. People can physically
get around more easily, and be more
energy efficient.”
now. English and foreign language
teachers have moved to the bungalows, but they expect to be in their
new, modernized rooms at the end of
the semester.
During Winter Break, the
crews will begin work on phase two,
which will be the science and social
studies halls. At that time, teachers in
the social studies and science halls
will moved out to the bungalows that
currently house the English and foreign language teachers.
Phase three will occur during summer, and will affect the gym.
The last phase will occur during the
first semester of next year and will focus on the south side of the campus,
the music and art area.
This schoolwide modernization is to bring the school up to
California regulations. Some of these
new regulations include an increase
in classroom size and the installation
of handicapped-accessible restrooms.
For example, all of the the door nobs
will be changed to the new hook form
in order to make them more friendly to
those with disabilities.
There also will be a much
needed rewiring in all classrooms.
This will help teachers, who constantly
have trouble with their appliances and
Internet. Students also can look forward to new seating. The old desks
will be replaced in all classrooms with
new, more modern seating.
Campus acquires new upgrades
BY ALBERT RANGEL
It is difficult to miss the renovations being done on campus. Some
students might even be annoyed by
the changes going on right now. The
construction may cause a distraction
now, but it should prove fruitful in the
near future.
Saddleback opened September 13, 1967. Much of the school
structure and wiring is still the same
as it was then, but since that time
both technology and state laws have
changed the face of education.
Since the 1990’s, a technological boom has increased use
of electronics in daily life. With the
demand for electricity increasing so
much, the school added new solar
panels last year, and now creates 70%
of its own electricity.
The school’s new look will
make the school different, but it will
be more up to date. Classrooms will
be rebuilt and fitted with new lighting,
carpeting, and a lot of new technology.
For example, every new classroom
will contain a smart board. The smart
boards will be like giant iPads, which
will enable teachers to make more creative presentations and Power Points.
All classrooms will be larger
as well. When they reopen, classrooms will have been increased from
below 900 square feet to 960 square
feet. Unlike the old classrooms,
these new classrooms will be better
equipped for students and teachers.
Most of these new changes are meant
to help improve the learning experience for students. The modernization
is scheduled in phases, with phase
one being the work being done right
(Photo by Fern Guardado)
A COMMON SIGHT- Construction crews have become a constant presence on
the Saddleback campus as they work to make the modernization a reality.
THE ROADRUNNER-PAGE 2
OPINION
Speaking Out...
New schedule causes trouble Traffic disrupted by
classroom relocation
BY MILADYS MERCADO
As we walked into this new
school year, we entered with a few
surprises in store. The biggest surprise to most students was that an extra 30 minutes had been added to the
bell schedule. Instead of adding these
30 minutes to the end of the school
day, our campus divided the time, with
half of it in the morning and the rest
in the afternoon. Now students have
to start school earlier than usual and
leave later.
The reason more time was added
was to help students. The district is
trying to increase student performance
and to have enough time to support
every student in each of their classes.
Now students have more time
in each of their classes. Plus, the new
ASAP policy has students spending
extra time in regular classes from
Tuesdays through Thursdays.
Some students wanted to
know how long this schedule would
last. According to Mrs. Erica Graves,
Learning Director, that “depends on
how successful we are. If student
scores become higher and results are
positive,” then the extra time may be
eliminated.
The new bell schedule has
not caused any actual problems. Mrs.
Graves mentioned that the only real
problem is that “there have been quite
a few tardies” because of the earlier
start time, “but in the last couple days
they have been decreasing.”
Crystal Bui, senior, said that because of the new bell schedule, she
is up later doing homework and really
tired when she gets to school. She
added, “I dislike the new bell schedule
because it’s longer, and a lot of people
come to school late, and by the end
of the day we are all worn out and
stressed.”
Martha Cervantes, junior,
stated that she does not have a problem with getting to school early. She
added, “I only want us to at least come
out a little earlier because some of us
have jobs or night school, and we end
up getting there late, and it puts a lot
of stress on our shoulders.”
All the school wants to do
is help students. Some students may
accept the help and some may not,
but from some points of view, this help
adds more stress. For example, some
may have night school and a later dismissal time can make it harder for students to make it there on time.
BY ADRIAN LOPEZ
Also, some of the beverages have also gone up in price. Gatorade and water, like the brownies and
cookies, are now a quarter more than
than they were last year.
Another difference that really shocked and upset students was
that now on Fridays, Flamin’ Hot
Cheetos will not be given out for free
like they were last year. “I feel sad. I
would look forward to them every Friday,” Olmos said.
Lopez agrees, “because we
were used to getting them and now
they decide to take it away in our last
year.”
Although these chips will not
be given out for free on Fridays, the
cafeteria makes up for it with increasing the variety of snacks to choose
from. More pastries have been added
to the menu, and there is a larger selection of breakfast foods in the morning.
Not all of the changes upset the students. One of the welcome
changes is the new meal offered at one
of the lunch lines. The popular slice of
pizza now comes in combo form. If
you have free or reduced lunch, you
can get this slice along with a juice of
your choice. Many students enjoy the
new pizza combo. Sophomore Marlyn
Matus says, “this pizza actually tastes
good. It’s more filling, and it has become my favorite.”
On most days the lines to
get pizza are the longest and most
chaotic. More students cut and shove
to just get their share of food, which
upsets students who just to peacefully
enjoy a slice of pizza.
Runners worry about price hike
As a new school year starts,
students have noticed big changes
in the school. One of the noticeable
changes has been the food. This year,
students found that some of their favorite snacks have risen in price.
The price of a student favorite, the cookie, got raised by a quarter. Other favorite snacks of students
also have risen in price. The brownie,
which was originally 50 cents, is now
75 cents.
Isabel Olmos, senior said
“I’m very upset that some of the
snacks have increased in price.”
Silvia Lopez, senior said,
“I do not like that idea. It’s too expensive. If students can’t afford it, they’ll
go to the lunch line and then make the
line longer, and it’ll take up time.”
Students hope for iPads at SHS
BY CRISSELLE MENDIOLA
The rise of advanced technology continues, and has made its
way into students’ lives. Some high
schools are considering replacing
textbooks with iPads or other tablets.
Although Saddleback High
School has yet not been exposed to
the iPads, the idea of bringing tablets
to students’ fingertips would introduce
a new level of learning. Students
would be able to access a wide variety
of information over the Internet, where
textbooks only allow access to limited
information.
As students this year have
realized, there has been a shortage
of books in some classrooms. As a
result, some classes require students
to bring their textbooks from home, to
and from school, resulting in lost or
damaged books and exhausted students.
Imagine, though, if these
tattered textbooks were replaced with
lightweight iPads or tablets. An upgrade from textbooks, iPads would be
more beneficial to our students’ education.
Having iPads and tablets
would give students online resources
at hand, available anywhere. This
technology would also allow students
to view tutorials and learn visually. The
many applications offered could help
serve as study materials for students.
Miriam Salas, junior, believes that the replacement would be
excellent for students. She states, “I
see our school switching from textbooks to iPads in a few years. This
is because as we near the future, we
must be up to date, and the iPad might
Campus Notes
provide a better understanding of what
we’re learning.”
Saddleback High School’s
librarian, Mrs. Tamara Davis, agrees,
saying, “I think it will be in the near future for schools in wealthy areas, but
it will take longer for that level of technology use to be fully incorporated
elsewhere.”
Another up side to having
iPads would be the financial savings.
Mrs. Davis agrees, stating, “In the long
run I think it would be a more effective
spending because new textbooks are
more expensive.”
The drawbacks to be considered, though, are distractions,
since the iPad offers more than education-related subjects. However, this
is only a small conflict that can easily
be resolved with filters and blocking
programs.
By Crisselle Mendiola
Traffic in school is a major
annoyance to us all. We are all expected to get from class to class in six
minutes and be in our seats, or we are
tardy.
Sometimes there are large
groups of people that do not move for
three minutes, for example, or a cou-
ple hugging blocks our way to class.
At times, students have had
to “fight” to get to their classes. Some
students even have had to resort to
going the longer way, hoping to get
around traffic and make it to on time.
We asked students what their thoughts
were on this situation.
“Traffic is really bad. They
should make hallways better.”
-Laura Montejano
Senior
“It’s like a highway and everyone takes the same road.”
-Juan Arzate
Junior
“I want the construction to
end so we can get back to
normal.”
-Mark Anthony Rangel
Sophomore
“It takes long to get to class,
and you have to stop sometimes and wait.”
-Brenda Cortez
Freshman
The staff
Percilla Guitierrez & Crisselle Mendiola
Editors-in-Chief
News Editor………………................................Vanessa Estrada and Samuel
Gomez
Editorial Editor…..……..................................Melissa Macias and Albert Rangel
Features Editor...........................................…Fern Guardado and Alan Nguyen
Sports Editor..................................................Rogelio Cabezas and Ana Garcia
Computer Graphics Layout Artist.…..........................................Melissa Macias
Circulation...................................................................................Jennifer Farias
Cartoonist…….…...……….............................................……Crisselle Mendiola
Photographers……..........................................................Robert Gama, Fern
Guardado, Jessica Gutierrez, Percilla Guitierrez, Adrian Lopez, Miladys Mercado, and Albert Rangel
Reporters…........….......................... Angeline Alcala, Rogelio Cabezas, Vanessa Estrada, Jennifer Farias, Robert Gama, Ana Garcia, Samuel Gomez, Fern
Guardado, Percilla Guitierrez, Jessica Gutierrez, Adrian Lopez, Melissa Macias, Crisselle Mendiola, Miladys Mercado, Alan Nguyen, and Albert Rangel
Advisor……................................…....…………….…………….Mr. Timothy Titus
Principal………..……...................................………………….Dr. Robert Laxton
The ‘Roadrunner’ is a publication of the Advanced Journalism class of Saddleback High School, 2802 S. Flower Street, Santa Ana, California, 92707. Member of Quill & Scroll, Recipient of the Quill & Scroll International First Place and
the George H. Gallup Award.
Letters to the editor may be brought to room 22 or given to any staff
member. They must be signed and may be edited due to space, obscenity, libel,
incorrect spelling, grammatical errors, or poor taste.
THE ROADRUNNER-PAGE 3
Homecoming traditions live on
BY JENNIFER FARIAS
Homecoming is one of the
major events that seniors look forward
to every year. It is celebrated in high
schools all over the country. Homecoming festivities usually consist of
a football game at a school’s home
field, a parade with the school marching band, and floats that high school
students create. It later follows with a
formal dance and a royal court.
The Homecoming tradition
started in 1911 at the University of
Missouri, which would welcome the
alumni to the field and celebrate them
“coming home” for a football game.
Later, not only did they welcome the
alumni, but also the current students.
Schools celebrated this with a football
game, a parade, rallies, and a dance.
Students all over the country get involved and help prepare for these
events and show their school spirit by
dressing up.
Saddleback’s Homecoming
game is tonight, and the football team
has been giving it their best at practice. Senior Mauricio Alvarez, team
captain said, “We have been preparing really hard non-stop.”
Alvarez expects a victory
from the game, but he also hopes to
get crowned Homecoming King. This
is his senior year and last Homecoming game, so he is going to try to make
it memorable by “winning the game
and going all out,” he said.
The football game is not the
only thing students are talking about;
the dance will be tomorrow night in the
gym. The Homecoming theme for this
year is “Glampire Ball.”
Our senior president, Alberto Tapia, felt this theme would be
fun. “We chose it because the senior
class liked it, and it is a fun theme,” he
said. Tapia also hopes that this year’s
dance will be different from past years.
“I feel there is going to be more people
attending because of the theme,” he
said.
Along with the theme, the
senior class has some major decorating to do. Homecoming is going to
be at the gym, so the space has to be
transformed from a basketball court to
a gothic dance floor. Tapia also added, “I’m trying to make sure the decorations are great because it is in the
gym.”
The senior class has been
preparing for this dance since the beginning of the school year and has
been making sure all the preparations
are in order. The senior class also had
the task of giving every senior in ASB
a job in preparing for the dance. Some
members called various companies to
buy decorations, supplies, and other
items they needed.
Viridiana Mojica, ASB President, said, “The decorations for the
dance are going to be haunted style
but in a way make it seem formal and
fancy.”
The senior class hopes that
this dance will be memorable and fun
for all students.
BY ROBERT GAMA
get much funding. Aquatics gear can
be expensive; for boys, it is $60 dollars per Speedo swimsuit, and with so
many boys this year, that adds up. All
profit made from her food sales goes
directly to help water polo get the gear
that they need.
The snack bar, which is
staffed by Gonzalez and her daughter Inez, is open every day from after
school until 5:30 p.m., except when
there is an away game. During boys’
water polo season, the girls’ water
polo team also helps out with the
snack bar. The girls get community
service hours since working there is
not a requirement.
The snack bar is stocked
with all kinds of snacks, including
quesadillas made right in front of you,
and during swim season the snack
bar also sells pasta and meatball
sandwiches. During hot weather they
sell ice cream, but during swim season the most popular snack seems to
be the pasta bowl. If you were to ask
Gonzalez, she would recommend the
quesadillas or the Cup o’ Noodles.
Gonzalez tries to make most
of the food herself, but when she cannot, she has one of the girls on the water polo team to make the food- after
proper training, of course. Gonzalez is
grateful for the school’s support, saying, “I just want to thank everyone who
supports us by stopping by the snack
bar, even the security guards and the
staff that come by, and the girls that
have been helping me. In a week we
get about 200 plus people stop by the
snack bar.”
Students here at Saddleback are happy to have the popular
snack bar on their campus. Junior
Mario Jaramillo says that he goes to
the snack bar every so often to buy a
quick snack when he is hungry after
school. His favorite thing to buy is the
quesadilla.
Jaramillo says, “The food
is really good. They have a variety of
snacks to choose from, and it is even
cheaper than most of the food they
sell during lunch.”
Alex Chavez, sophomore,
says it is a good place to get after
school snacks. He gratefully says, “it
is very nice of Veronica to help the water polo teams and to take the time out
of her week to support them.”
If you are ever hungry after
a long day of school, go by our pool
deck to buy a cheap and tasty snack
and support our water polo team.
(Photo by Percilla Gutierrez)
GLAMOUROUS FRIGHT- ASB works hard to create the decorations for Homecoming. The theme, “Glampire Ball,” brings Halloween thrills to the dance.
Snack bar helps fund aquatics DREAM Act brings
learning opportunities
After a long, tiring day of
school there is nothing better than to
have some good comfort food. Where
would be a good place to go? One
place is located no further than Saddleback’s pool deck. Here, not only do
you benefit by getting affordable food,
but you also help raise money for our
aquatics teams: the boys’ and girls’
water polo and swim teams.
The poolside snack bar was
started by a parent, Veronica Gonzalez, when her son was a freshman at
Saddleback. Gonzalez noticed that
water polo needed help raising some
money. Even though Saddleback has
a great water polo team, it does not
(Photo by Miladys Mercado)
SNACKING- Senior Carmina Alatorre sells after school snacks to junior Ana
Montoya and sophomores Lizbeth Guzman and Valerie Acosta at the pool deck
snack bar. All proceeds go to help Saddleback’s aquatics teams.
Students describe haunted fun
BY FERN GUARDADO
Typically, everyone loves
Halloween for trick-or-treating. However, there are always those of us who
would rather go hang out with friends
at places like theme parks, costume
parties, scary movies, and concerts.
There are some exciting Halloween
hotspots in Orange County this year.
There is a Halloween Carnival at the Newport Coast Shoppping
Center in Newport Beach on October
26, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. This should
be a fun family event as well a fun place
to enjoy with friends. Some things that
are happening are costume contests,
carnival games, a haunted house, and
more. All proceeds will go to the Corazon de Vida Foundation which helps
orphans in Baja California, Mexico.
Another spooky place to
visit is the Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor.
Every year, the Queen Mary brings
visitors into their haunted harbor.
This month, you can visit
until October 31. You can take a tour
of five spooky mazes as well as see
actual haunted places inside the ship.
You can even spend the night aboard.
Tickets start at $20.
There is a “Haunted Basement Lock
Down” at the Chapman Antique Mall
in Orange. The owner of the mall will
talk about the history and many ghostly experiences that have occurred at
the haunted mall. These experiences
include windows shattering, objects
levitating, hair being pulled, and people being touched. The lock down is
tomorrow night from 8:00 to 10:00
p.m. Tickets start at $30.
Every October, Knott’s Berry Farm transforms itself into a spooky
fright fest known as Knott’s Scary
Farm. There will be 13 mazes (three
of them are new) and four scare zones
this year. Plus, all around the park,
there are hundreds of monsters waiting to jump out and scare the guests.
Rides are still open, as well as the
food booths.
There is special entertainment planned during the whole month,
and you can look on http://haunt.
knotts.com/ to see what is planned.
Tickets start at $34, and there are
group discount coupons located at
Burger King and Ralphs.
There are also many other
creative things to do for this haunted
month. Some people might just want
to stay in and pop in some thriller classics like Child’s Play or Halloween.
Having a scary movie night is a top
pick for some people. Hot new releases are coming to the theaters soon.
Paranormal Activity 3 is coming out tonight (so go and enjoy). Other creepy
movies that have come out this month
include The Skin I Live In, Texas Killing
Fields, and The Woman.
Some students have already planned what they are doing
for Halloween. Jazmin Meza, senior,
states, “This year, I’m attending a costume party, going to a concert, and going to Knott’s Scary Farm!”
Thu Ly, junior, says “I might
go to San Diego and go trick-or-treating with my sister’s cat.”
Of course, the most important activity to do for Halloween
is obvious: dressing up. Some new
costumes are going to hit Saddleback
with a scream next Monday. Clarissa
Dominguez, senior, is going to be a
“Pink Lady” from the movie Grease.
Another senior, Francisco Hernandez,
is going to be Aladdin.
BY ANA GARCIA
Over three million students
graduate every year from high schools
across the U.S. Sixty-five thousand of
those students are undocumented.
Forty percent of those live in California, and some are students here at
Saddleback.
The Development, Relief,
and Education for Alien Minors Act,
better known as the DREAM Act, is
a bill that would make financial aid
available to students who are classified as undocumented only because
their parents immigrated illegally and
brought their children with them.
To be eligible, a student
must have lived in the U.S. for most
of their lives and have graduated from
a U.S. high school. DREAM Act supporters believe it is beneficial to our
country in that it would give give these
students a chance to make something
of themselves.
The Dream Act has been in
Congress since 2001. It was brought
to Congress by Senators Orrin Hatch
(R-UT) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) in
the Senate, and by Representatives
Howard Berman (D-CA) and Chris
Cannon (R-UT) in the House, but it
has not become a law. Last year it
missed by five votes.
On our campus, with the
majority of the students being Latinos,
the DREAM Act has a lot of support.
Alejandra Olvera, junior, stated her
opinion on the DREAM Act: “I don’t
oppose it,” she said, “because it’s giving students the opportunity to go to
college and they should have the right
because everyone deserves to have
an education.”
However, many politicians
do not like the idea of helping out
people who are here illegally. Senator
Hatch, who was the Republican cosponsor of the bill, was criticized by
people from his home state for bringing up this new bill back in 2001. Senator Hatch got discouraged with working on the DREAM Act, so he stopped
altogether.
At Saddleback, most of the
student population is Latino. Some
are undocumented. Some of our excellent classmates could miss a great
opportunity to succeed in life, all because they were brought here by their
parents.
THE ROADRUNNER-Page 4
Girls’ tennis eager Cross country seeks distinction
to start new season
BY ALAN NGUYEN
The Saddleback girls’ tennis
team is working hard to improve their
performance. With last year’s senior
players gone, the girls need to work
harder than ever. However, many new
girls have shown an interest in joining
the team, and with so many new tennis players coming in, the team hopes
to have a good season this year.
Mr. Sung Lee, coach, has
led the team for a year now. He is a
physics teacher in Saddleback, but he
also is dedicated to his team and determines to get his team working hard
to strive to success.
Lee enjoys being the coach
of the girls’ tennis team. He enjoys
seeing how the girls from last year
have improved their playing skills. He
is eager to see how this year is going
to turn out for the girls’ tennis team.
Coach Lee’s goal this year
is to continue improving last year’s
players and train the new girls’ team
so he can have a good, strong team
this year. Lee said, “This year, I plan
to train last year’s girls and this years
new girls to get their basic skills established.”
During tryouts for the girls’
tennis team, Lee was happy to see a
large number of girls who were interested in joining tennis, even though
most of them never played a sport.
Last year, there were approximately
18 girls who played tennis. This year,
Lee said that we have over 30 girls
that are playing tennis.
Coach Lee is extremely
happy with the numbers of girls joining the team this year, and he is still
welcoming any girls that want to join
tennis. He plans to train every one
of them in all the basic techniques of
tennis and physical fitness, but he is
not alone. He has varsity co-captain
Amanda Vu, senior, to help train new
players.
Coach Lee will be expecting a lot from Vu. He expects her to
be autonomous and take initiative. Vu
knows that Coach Lee does not need
to tell her what to do, and that he trusts
her to lead and train the team. She will
strive to make her coach proud and be
an asset to the team.
Vu’s main ambition this
year is to have fun playing tennis and
to win more matches. She knows that
the schools they are going to face will
not go easy on them, but she is determined and confident, eager to show
other schools how competitive she
and her teammates can be.
Vu will strive to display her
leadership skills as the co-captain of
the tennis team. “I’ll set a good example and be positive to the team,”
she said. She intends to show her optimism throughout the season and be
a major asset to the team.
This year, Vu is anxious to
play Costa Mesa and Estancia because she feels that they are the most
challenging schools, after Laguna Hills
High School.
This year the girls hope to
push themselves beyond their limits
to make their school proud. They are
striving to win as many matches as
possible. They expect to work together and keep their determination high to
overcome any challenges along their
journey. Both the new and returning
tennis players are eager for the 2011
season. This is the beginning of a new
adventure for our girls’ tennis team.
Visit from olympian
motivates athletes
(Photo by Percilla Gutierrez)
OLYMPIAN- Goalie Andy Stevens visits Saddleback to share his wisdom.
BY PERCILLA GUITIERREZ
Over the summer, Saddleback High School received a special
visit from Olympic water polo player
Andy Stevens. Stevens was invited
by aquatics Coach Derek McCord and
Assistant Coach Francisco Gonzalez
to come give a motivational speech
to the young athletes. Stevens plays
on the U.S.A team as goalie and has
had years of experience. He came to
share his experiences, thoughts, and
ideas with his young audience.
Athletes, parents, and families all gathered to hear Stevens give
his motivational speech. He started
off by introducing himself and passing around his official Olympic gear:
his team Speedo, championship rings,
and his official bag- a quick glance at
what hard work can bring.
Stevens shared his life story
with his audience. He described how
he was adopted and how when he
started playing water polo as a young
boy, he was not very talented in the
sport. He explained that he was told
countless times he was no good or
that he would never amount to anything.
Audience members then
asked questions. Some of the younger athletes have been through tough
situations and felt they could make a
connection between themselves and
Mr. Stevens. Junior Daisy Santacruz
explained that “he helped me see that
it really doesn’t matter where we come
from or what we’ve been through.”
Stevens also described how
hard it was for him to make improvements on himself during a water polo
game. He reminded students that
even though it seems impossible at
times, never give up. The end result
is always more rewarding than current
satisfaction. He then expressed to the
young athletes in front of him that no
matter what anyone may say toward
them or where they come from, with
determination and a willingness to
work hard they can achieve anything
they set their minds to.
.
Stevens not only talked to
the girls’ and boys’ water polo teams,
he also got in the water and taught
them a game that would enhance
their skills and team work. The game
was chaotic. Junior Danny white explained that “there were hands going
everywhere, pushing, shoving, elbowing and the hardest part was getting
dunked under water while trying to
focus on passing the ball to your partner.”
This game demonstrated
how, even through complete chaos,
working hard and never giving up can
take you far in life.
Sophomore Lizbeth Guman
thought that, “being able to meet an
Olympic athlete was an experience I
won’t forget. He didn’t just tell us about
improving, but that it doesn’t matter
where we come from to succeed.”
Boys water polo captain, senior Francisco Gonzalez, said, “I look
up to Mr. Stevens because I know he’s
had to work hard in life to be where
he’s at, and I am hoping that the less
experienced members of the team
can realize their potential by listening
to how much dedication and hard work
that Mr. Stevens contributed to get to
where he’s at.”
goals for the team, he said he hopes“to
get to CIF finals,” just like Coach Silva
expects.
This demonstrates the unity
of the team and the coach. We can
count that the cross country team will
give their best effort to make it to CIF
finals.
On a personal note,
Vasquez said that his personal challenge for this season is “to run under
15:25 minutes and be placed on the
school’s top ten runners of all time.”
Our cross country team has
a history of winning. With coach Silva
“stressing team time and running as a
group,” the team’s record of success
seems likely to continue.
With such experienced
leaders such as Vasquez, this year’s
team intends to make their best effort
to achieve more success.
BY SAMUEL GOMEZ
As a new school year starts,
a new season for cross country begins as well. This year’s team has new
goals, new members, and a group of
experienced leaders. The team is
aiming for a fun and successful season.
Cross country is a very competitive and difficult sport to practice,
therefore students who participate in
this sport have to start training early,
usually during the summer, in order to
be able to keep up with the rigorous
requirements of the season.
This summer, our runners
were not able to go to camp. However,
that fact did not prevent them from
preparing during summer.
Coach Mel Silva said that
this year, “the training started on July
10. We trained endurance before moving into running.”
He also mentioned that “50
new students attended training during
summer, but in total for this season we
count 150 boys and girls.”
All these students have
something in common, and that is their
goal for this season. Coach Silva says
that his expectations for the team are
big; he believes that the school has a
strong team, which is in the top three
teams in Santa Ana. That is why he
expects nothing less for the team but
“to qualify to the CIF finals.”
Coach Silva says there
might be challenges in the future to
overcome like, “the mental challenge
of running, since running is 90% mental and 10% physical,” and learning to
“commit 100%”
Qualifying for CIF finals is
not the only goal for the team. The
coach also hopes for “the new group
of boys to gain experience, and for the
new girls to learn how to run properly
and keep the team strong and in good
shape.”
Coach Silva is not alone in
training the new runners. The team
currently has some very experienced
leaders that can help guide the team
to success.
Juniors Gemma Alegria and
Estefani Panduro, along with seniors
Miguel Velasquez, Jose Villegas and
Cutberto Vasquez are among those
runners.
Vasquez said, “I feel like all
of us will have a good season. The
hard work we put in during summer
will now pay off.” When discussing the
BY ROGELIO CABEZAS
Four of the players from our
aquatics team have participated in the
Water Polo Junior Olympics: sophomores Anthony Gonzalez and Diego
Lupercio, and seniors Francisco Gonzalez, and Alex Roman. They played
over the summer with their off season
club and ranked an excellent sixteenth
in the nation. This was a great honor
for the boys and shows the talent on
our team.
The boys have been working hard to have a great season. They
have been in the pool all summer and
have started school playing just as
hard.
Their workouts have included morning practices before school
and continue with their regular practice in the afternoon.
Gonzalez is proud of the
team for working hard, saying, “we
practice a lot, just like any other sport.
We work very hard and put in so much
effort. I think our coach is expecting
many great things for us this season.”
The boys’ training beganpaying off with an exciting victory last
month. Saddleback beat Trabuco Hills
12-4. Gonzalez says, “It felt great to
finally beat them and for their parents
to ask about us (Mendez and me).”
“It was just nice to feel recognized, and we really played hard as
a team,” he continued. This was Saddleback’s first victory against Trabuco
in six years.
The boys’ water polo team
has gathered up momentum going
into League. Gonzalez is confident
about starting League play. He says,
“I feel as if we will do great in League,
and our only challenge will be facing
Laguna Beach; but as long as we all
work as a team and don’t give up, I
think we have a chance.”
Gonzalez feels confident
that the underclassmen will have no
problem after he graduates. “For being juniors and sophomores,” he says,
“they are doing an amazing job keeping up and playing with us this year.”
hundred percent on the field and to get
a victory.”
Coach Thompson has a few
goals of his own. “Our first goal was to
get more players out on the program,
and right now we have 100 guys. Our
second goal is to make them eligible
to play; they have to keep their grades
up. Our third goal is to just win more
games than the previous year and to
keep improving.”
The team is doing great
in their practices. Peralta states that
“practicing hard, making changes, expecting nothing but victory this year,
we should be ready by league.”
However, they did have a
few disappointments. “We lost our first
two scrimmages, but we feel like we
are focused on getting a few wins this
year,” says Coach Thompson. The
football team continues to remain optimistic all times.
When Coach Thompson
was asked what advice he would give
the team, he replied, “Set a goal, focus on the task at hand. Be happy with
what you do, but never be satisfied.
Do not let the circumstances destroy
your opportunities.”
(Photo by Percilla Gutierrez)
RUNNING TOWARD VICTORY- The cross country team works out every day in
order to improve their endurance, speed, and stamina for the season.
Boys’ water polo aims for CIF
In the past, the boys’ water
polo team has had success making
it to the playoffs. With five returning
starters and the underclassmen showing some talent, the boys are confident
they will make it to CIF again.
This year, the water polo
team has two very noticeable athletes,
seniors Miguel Mendez and Francisco
Gonzalez. Both of these players have
played varsity since their freshman
year.
Mendez received First Team
honors, being named one of the top
athletes in the league, his junior year.
He also won the Golden West League
MVP his sophomore year. Gonzalez
has made First Team both his sophomore and junior years.
This year the boys are playing hard. Mendez and Gonzalez have
combined to score over seven goals a
game. The two seniors feel very confident about their final year playing water polo at Saddleback.
Football team shows optimism
BY ANA GARCIA
Football season has started,
and our Roadrunner players are working hard and playing tough. These
students have been practicing since
summer and are found on the field
from 2:30-5:30 p.m. on school days.
The team also is working hard to stay
positive at all times.
It is not easy to be on the
football team. Last year the boys lost
their coach. However, they gained a
new and experienced one. Mr. Robert
Thompson, the new football coach,
has coached for 12 years in different
places.
He also is very excited to be
working at Saddleback. He states that,
“There’s a lot of potential here, and I
have been given an opportunity, and
the administration has been supportive.”
The coach and the team are
expecting to win games. Johnny Peralta, junior captain, is looking forward
to playing Estancia, “to stop their running back.” He is expecting to “win all
of them. We don’t fear; we just try our
best. Godinez is the game we have to
win.”
Both Coach Thompson and
captain Peralta are working on what
is best for the team. Peralta’s goal for
this season is “for all of us to give a
(Photo courtesy of David Hayes)
DEFENSE- Senior Rogelio Cabezas puts pressure on Valley’s quarterback.
The football season continues tonight with the annual Homecoming game. The
Roadrunners will take on the Costa Mesa High School Mustangs.