By: Heaven Marquez

Pictured (left to right): Jake Casias, Reed Foster, Brady Stevens, Travis Garcia, Matthew Garcia, Coach Guerra

As the golf season carries on, the Eagles also continue doing well in different tournaments. February was an eventful month for both the boys and girls golf teams, with successful tournaments for all. On February 1st, the first tournament for the girls was held in Devine, with the team taking 4th place with 463 points. The boys began on February 3rd, playing in the Somerset Tournament and winning 1st place with a total of 350 points. The 8th was a success for the girls in the Warren Tournament, coming in 9th place and scoring 454 points. The girls team also did well on February 22nd, earning 4th place in Devine with a score of 426. February 23rd was another great day for the boys team, with them winning 1st in Devine on a score of 341 points. March was another great month for the Eagles golf teams, which began on March 1st. The girls earned 4th place in the Jourdanton Tournament, ending with 416 points. 

“It’s [the team] improved a lot with people coming back from other sports and just overall play,” said senior Trent Crady. “Many have improved by a couple of strokes.” The boys continued the great work on March 3rd in the Jourdanton Boys Tournament, getting 1st place with 324 points. On March 9th, the girls team won 4th place with 412 points. March 12th and 13th were triumphant for the boys, winning 1st place with 674 points at the two day Uvalde Coyote Invitational Tournament. March 15th was also successful for the boys team, coming in 1st place once again with a score of 335. On March 17th, the girls team also did really well in the Randolph Tournament, arriving in 2nd place with a final score of 426 points. 

With district just around the corner, both teams are continuing to play strong. “District is looking really good for the team. We have a better chance to move past district and continue going forward,” stated Crady. The district golf tournament will determine who goes on to the next round, and both teams have a great shot at making it. Great job Eagles and keep up the good work!

By: Ariana Johnson and Dillon Myers

Lady Eagles honors our hero’s

On March 3rd, the JV Lady Eagles Softball Team had their first home game vs Lee Volunteers they went in with a strong beginning but the Volunteers won the game with a score of 14-9. Emery Gillespie said, “For us to get better as a team.” She also said, “Since I am a catcher, I want to get better at blocking balls.” She also said, “I don’t give up because I know we can win and can get better.” On March 6th, the JV Lady Eagles Softball Team went to Poteet High School. They fought hard but Poteet won the game with a score of 15-7. Coach Mireles said, “I try to teach girls to be better than they were the day before whether it was with school or athletics and just try to be a better person than you were the day before.” She also said, “I played since I was 5 and it was always a game that let me let go of the world and escape reality and so then it was a game that I love and I want to teach them to be a better women in the world and better people in the world and not just teach them the love of the game.” On March 10th, The Lady Softball Team went to Gonzales High School. Since the Apaches scored their runs due to numerous walks. The Apaches won 15-0. 

On February 18th, the Varsity Lady Eagles Softball team went to their first tournament of the season in Floresville. The Eagles fought a tough battle against NB Canyon with a 10-0 loss. In the second game they had the bases loaded in the last inning, and got to hit a line drive that was caught the end of the game with a 5-2 loss against. The second day of their tournament the Lady Eagles won against Marion with a score of 9-4. The second game of the day was a close one against Alamo heights with a score of 6-7. The last day of the tournament ended on a good note, as they went against Floresville and were determined to change mistakes and the team won the game with a score of 8-4. March 5th, Varsity Lady Eagles went to Poteet and worked hard together and pulled a win with a score of 19-11. On March 9th, the Lady Eagles barely lost to Gonzales, with the score ending as 8-10. On March 12th, the Lady Eagles went in strong and won against Carrizo Springs with a score of 16-1. On March 16th, the Lady Eagles went against a possible playoff contender, Crystal City, and won with a score of 15-1. March 19th, the Lady Eagles went against Brooks and won with a score of 15-0. Keep up the good work. Pride, pride.

By: Adelena Vera

April Findley

April Findley is a senior here at PHS. She lived in Houston and went to some elementary schools there, then she moved to Pleasanton and has been going to school here since the 3rd grade. April works two jobs, The Plestex Theater and Sonic Drive-Thru, all while balancing her school work along with extracurricular activities. She is involved in NHS, she is the President of Student Council, and is the class officer for the class of 2021. She has been in the NHS for 2 years along with Student council and Class Officer for 4 years. When asked about what they are, she said, “really all three of them are about helping the student body. Student council is the one I’m most active in and for me it’s all about letting people have their voices be heard and making changes in the school for the better.” April stated, “My favorite class is probably calculus, even though it’s really challenging.” She is going to Texas A&M-College Station to study Mathematics. April was asked if there was anything she would change about her high school experience and she said,  “I think I would change the way I approached high school, and I would try and enjoy my time a little more rather than only focusing on grades and obsessing over getting that extra point.” 

April is a very hard working student here at PHS and has a big future ahead of her. Good luck and have fun in college! 

By: Eileen Jaksik

Mrs. DeWaal in her classroom.

Mrs. DeWaal is a teacher here at Pleasanton High School. Before she decided to become a teacher she was a pharmacist, but she says that she got very bored and wanted to change directions in her career. She says, “It was an accident, I didn’t like the pharmacy job I had and I wanted to change directions and I wanted to go into the medical field and they required me to take an elective. I thought the easiest elective was student teaching and after taking it I saw that I enjoyed it a lot and I decided to try it for a year to see if I would like it and I did.” 

Ever since she started teaching she fell in love with it and has now been teaching for 5 years. She fell in love with being with her students and helping out around the school. Mrs. DeWaal contributes to the school by running the Pleasanton Pacesetters, running the science club, and helping out with dual credit classes all while juggling her regular and AP classes. Mrs. DeWaal has a lot on her plate and has a lot of things going on and she still keeps her head up high and has a smile on her face, She says “It’s been tough, several mental breakdowns… but overall it is so worth it” 

Juggling all of her classes and extra contributions is not the only stressful thing she is going through. We are all trying to adjust to the new COVID-19 restrictions, but the teachers have the worst of it out of everyone. Mrs. DeWaal says that it has changed her way of teaching and the way she sees her students. “It has caused me to be more reflective on my teaching, on my learning, and has made me pay more attention to what the student needs as an individual and as a whole class. I’m really stepping back and realizing that not a lot of students have a lot of support because they’re at home and they’re having to go through school and stuff on their own. So I’ve had to modify a lot of my lectures, videotape my lectures, videotape notes, have examples, and zoom.” she says. 

Even though this year has been really hard for Mrs. DeWaal, she still loves to teach and she says that she loves seeing her students succeed and just building that bond with her students is what she looks forward to when waking up in the morning. 

Mrs. DeWaal has contributed so much to this school, and our whole school is thankful for her and her hard work. Thank you, Mrs. DeWaal!

By: Libby Sanchez

Ms. Garza is our school’s CCMR (College, Career, and Military Readiness) Clerk. She manages our Dual Credit program, updates the counseling web page, organizes appointments for TSI, SAT, PSAT, and ASVAB testing, gives updates on scholarships, and schedules meetings with recruiters for students. Her job is to make sure students are prepared to take the correct route in their future, whether it be college or military. 

Pleasanton High School is the first school district Ms. Garza has worked for. She worked at her previous job for 16 years and became the IT director. She received many certifications in Networking, Electronic Medical Records, Practice manager System, Medical Coding, and Billing. These certifications made her the perfect fit for this position at our school. 

Although this job was not her career goal, “this was a contender because I love helping people and knowing I can help a student with their own goals is a great feeling,” Ms. Garza said. 

Covid- 19 has put a strain on how Ms. Garza does her job. This year, scholarship applications have to be submitted electronically instead of paper, college fairs must be virtual, and scheduling testing is an issue. Despite these complications, Ms. Garza has done an excellent job of keeping everything organized and running smoothly! You can catch her standing outside her door next to the counselor’s office with a smile through her mask, thank you for all you do Ms. Garza!

By: Gabby Palacios

Due to Covid-19, this year’s Visual Art Scholastic Event (VASE) will be held virtually, with participants submitting all of their interview answers and photo documents electronically. Previously, PHS Art teachers and students would travel to the region event hosts, East Central High School, where they would go through a physical interview process.

According to the Texas Art Education Association (TAEA) website, the mission of VASE is to “recognize exemplary student achievement in the Visual Arts by providing art students and programs a standard of excellence in which to achieve.” For this year’s event, participants completed an online Student Intent form that explained the composition and creative process of their work and digitally submitted reference photos and final photos of their completed work.

After submitting the form, each entry is evaluated by jurors and given scores based on research and application to the work, technique, use of elements and the principles of art, aesthetics and critical judgment, and personal expression. The artwork is evaluated on the purpose, technique, personal expression, organization, and integration of the piece. A score of four achieves a regional award and qualifies the piece for judging for the state event. Ten percent of the qualifying pieces advance.

Last school year, Michael Castillo (current sophomore), Grace Bogenschneider (graduated), and Katelyn Rivera, and Alaina Caballero (current seniors) advanced to state with their pieces. This year, a total of 37 PHS participants received regional medals and sophomore Trey Martinez, juniors Kennedy Guajardo and Juan Lopez, and seniors Korin Ramos and Gabby Palacios advanced and will compete at the state virtual event, taking place on April 23-24, where they have the opportunity to participate in workshops and adjudication awards. 

Although the circumstances of the event are different this year, our PHS students did an amazing job and enjoyed the event. Sophomore Juan Lopez, explains, “This was my first year in art so I was surprised, but I am very excited for state.” 

On the other hand, an anonymous senior explains that they “wish it was different.” They explained, “I’m thankful we got to do it, but it’s unfortunate that I couldn’t physically be there my senior year.” 

Though the circumstances weren’t the best, PHS did an amazing job at VASE. Good job to all of the regional medalists and good luck to the state qualifiers! Pride Pride!

By:Wanish Tortes-McGinnis                                                    

PT before Spring Break

Starting off this month we have the February Cadet of the Month and the NCO, the NCO of the month is SSG Lorenzo Samaniego and the Cadet of the month is PV2 Adam Morales. 

 Cadets are selected at the beginning of the month and they have until the last wednesday of the month to study and during the month they have to complete a PT (Physical Training) test that is considered during the grading section. During the board cadets are interviewed by1SGs on all of the things they have been learning. The cadet is graded on cadet knowledge, basically what have they been taught. The cadets PT scores are compared to other cadet PT scores. 

Next up for this month is JLab. JLab is a leadership and academic test, this month the leadership team went to round two ( round two is the qualifying round for nationals). Leadership test is designed to test knowledge on military leadership and the ROTC curriculum. Competition is very competitive which means all teams shoot for the highest score. Although JROTC did not make it this year, they are preparing for next year’s JLab.  

By: Gabby Palacios

Rising senior Linda Sanchez performing her jump of choice (a left hurdler) during mock tryouts.

After a long week of tough practices, PHS cheer sponsors, Mrs. Rutherford and Mrs. Lopez held tryouts for the 2021-2022 team, with 14 girls making Varsity, and 11 girls making Junior Varisty. 

Throughout the week, the candidates were taught and prepared a cheer and dance routine that they performed with their tryout groups. As they entered their tryouts, each girl performed an entrance routine displaying their spirit and tumbling skills and then demonstrated their techniques for a toe touch jump and a jump of their choice. To finish off their tryouts, each group performed the PHS Fight Song, Jalisco, pom routine.

There were a total of 25 girls to try out for the team and 2 members that sought positions as mascots, and every candidate received a position. With that being said, the 2021-2022 PHS cheer team is larger than it has been in years. Although a 14-member varsity squad is average, the junior varsity team will be made up of 11 girls, almost double the number of the current members.

Rising senior Linda Sanchez explains, “This was a good tryout to end off on. The amount of growth everyone showed from the beginning of the week to the last day of tryouts was amazing. I’m proud of the group I get to end my last season on. It’s a big team so hopefully, we can use that to our advantage. ” Though she is sad to be coming up on her last season, Linda is excited for the new team to get together.

PHS is very excited to see what the new team has planned for next year. Good job and congratulations to all new members. Pride Pride!

Junior Varsity: Abigail Hotchkin, Abigail Sosa, Alejandra Martinez, Aubrey Cantu, Emily Morales, Joyce Reyna, Madalyn Allen, Malerie Martinez, Mercedes Phillips, Pearl Sosa, Valeria Morales

Varsity: Brooke Rankin, Desiree Duran, Eileen Jaksik, Emree Adamitz, Linda Sanchez, Makayla Lico, McAda Rutherford, Megan Mayse, Melanie Douglas, Noelani Guerrero, Paige David, Raylin Castillo, Riley Porter, Sirrah Maxwell

By: Gabby Palacios

PHS Pacesetter sponsors, Mrs. De Waal and Ms. Mendoza Del Bosque, held tryouts for the pacesetter team on the week of Monday, February 22- Saturday, February 27. A total of 33 members make up the 2021-2022 team.

During the week of tryouts, the girls prepared a routine that involved specific kicks and dance techniques, and a combination to advance across the floor. Before tryouts, they were expected to have their right split, right stationary leap, and a right pirouette. For tryouts, the girls performed their right and left techniques and the combination they were taught. 

The techniques expected of the girls have made a strong team of award-winning talent, clearly shown by their performances in school events and competitions. On Saturday, March 27, the team took part in the CrowdPleasers Competition in Retire Hays in Buda, Texas, where they received superior ratings in all of their ensemble, duets, and trio performances. Selena and Mily received a superior rating for their duet Gravity, Selena and Autumn for their duet Lovely, Kaitlyn and Larissa for their duet Beautiful Thing, medium jazz ensemble and Ritmo Trio. They received first place overall and scored best in class awards for the team Pom and Officer Modern dance.

Although she is excited about new beginnings, Mrs. DeWaal is also sad to see her seniors go. 

To the 2020-2021 Pacesetter Seniors:

“Each year it gets harder and harder to see seniors leave.  We build relationships that grow each year in a different way depending on their maturity, events in their lives, or leadership roles.  

Sophie is a first-year pacesetter that brings light to the team with her spunk and humble attitude.  She is a quick learner and blends well with the team.  I wish she would have tried out sooner, but so happy she did it for at least one year.  

Alexandra is my Lieutenant Colonel on the team and a 3rd-year dancer. Each year her confidence grows more and more, and I have definitely seen her bloom into a beautiful dancer.  The amazing quality that I will miss about her, is her way to turn hurdles into opportunities.  Opportunities to grow, learn and teach.  Alex is a great motivator for the team and for me.  I will miss her daily De Waal interruptions, just so she could say, ” I love you”.

Milagros is Major for the Pacesetter team and a 3rd-year dancer.  I have known Mily since she was a freshman and enjoyed her bright personality in the classroom as well as with the team.  She is the most talented dancer with the humblest demeanor. She has more love and gratitude in her little finger than most people display in their lifetime. I will miss her radiant smile and goofy ways. 

Jewels will probably be the hardest hit to my heart from this year’s senior group.  Jewels and I started at the same time and she is one of my original dancers once I became director of the pacesetters. We have grown together each year learning new ways to improve this team.  She is truly a talented dancer that will sacrifice herself for other’s success. Jewels has taught me patience, professionalism, and reflection through conversations and events.  Like I said, each year in a different way my relationship grows with the pacesetters, Jewels has seen and been involved in every way.”

– Mrs. DeWaal

Congratulations to the 2021-2022 Pacesetter team, and good luck to all of the seniors in the years to come! Pride Pride!

The 2021-2022 Team: Rosemary Garcia, Kaitlyn Allen, Alexandra Garcia, Madison Peters, Xitlalli Hernandez, Sydney Sorola, Cristina Ramos, Sergio Gonzalez, Kasey Patel, Alexis Robles, Illeana Ochoa, Natalia Cano, Anisa Murillo, Jamine Carlos, Marisol Villarreal, Brianna Arevalo, Larissa Villarreal, Miranda Caballero, Beatriz Castor, Jecenia Guzman, Krista Gutierrez, Kendra Valle, Eboni Rivera, Yasmeen Diop, Autumn Tortes-McGinnis, Selena Cerda, Dolores Guel, Heather Akers, Saidee Almendarez, Aryanna Partida, Lorenza Gonzales, Bianca Perez, Belle Martel

By: Jaelyn Morales

Academics and extracurricular activities are both beneficial for someone’s mental and physical health. They are also important for a student’s growth and development, but what happens if you can’t balance both? An imbalance can cause students to build anxiety, stress and could possibly affect the body, thoughts, feelings, and even behavior. The ongoing increase in heart rate can take a toll on your body and cause low energy, headaches, trouble sleeping, and much more, but with the right schedule and some tips you can be excelling in both academics and extracurriculars, plus have extra time for yourself.

Student-athletes should know that both sports and academics are important, but between the two, academics should always come first. Your first responsibility should be learning and turning in your assignments, so you can have good grades. Those good grades will give you a better chance at getting into college and finding a good and fitting career for you. Extracurriculars like sports, art, music, drama, and environmental education can help you with your teamwork skills, language skills, problem-solving skills, and can also encourage creativity, concentration, focus, and build self-esteem and confidence. A healthy and organized balance of both will not only make you a successful student, but will also help you in future years.

To balance both you will first need to know how to manage your time. Managing your time can be rather difficult, but after a while it will get easier and easier and your stress level will start to decrease. You should start by setting a small goal for yourself, make sure it is achievable and measurable. An example of a goal could be turning in all your work on time this week or even taking a break at a specific time so you don’t overwork yourself. After setting up your goals, you should start taking advantage of opportunities. Take advantage of free periods, extra time, school resources, and friends who are willing to help you out. Lastly, you should plan ahead and don’t let your week plan you. You can use a calendar, planner, or your phone to make reminders and note when you have games, practices, work due, or free time. This will help you plan your time wisely and make sure you complete all your tasks for the day. Remember these tips and you will succeed in both academics and extracurriculars while also having fun.

By: Kori Miller

Slasher and goofier horrors have been lacking lately in recent media, with the primary focus being on psychological horror films (A path paved by directors like Ari Aster and Robert Eggers). It’s a genre that’s been dead since Friday The 13th, with an extended cult following that makes you wonder where this caliber of the movie went. Apparently, the answer is simply that these people have run out of ideas. This is evident in early 2021’s Five Nights at Freddy’s reminiscent film, Willy’s Wonderland. Yes, the title is that bad. 

The film follows Nicholas Cage, who I will be referring to as such because his actual character is unnamed. Nick finds himself stranded in a small town after all four of his tires are punctured by some poorly placed spike strips, and with no ATM in sight, he is offered to work off the repair costs by spending a night cleaning the abandoned children’s attraction, Willy’s Wonderland. He grabs a few sodas, throws on a complimentary Willy Weasel t-shirt, and gets to work. Assuming you don’t know where this is going, the animatronic characters come to life in the dead of the night and wreak havoc.

Nick, although a talented actor, has a bit of a track record of never declining a project as long as he’s paid fairly. If this film was nothing but him beating the spit out of a bunch of Chuck E. Cheese rejects, it’d be perfectly good fun without having to pull weight by making sense or being compelling. It’s Nicholas Cage gutting CGI animatronics, what more could you ask for? However, as I stated, he wishes to be paid fairly for his time. This film was a smidge over a microbudget, so paying Cage for the main character role was not gonna work without some adjustments. The result? His character has zero lines, no name or story, and simply shows up for twenty-minute intervals to throw down and then slunk off to the corner to play pinball. 

As a result of this limited screen time, we are presented with my worst nightmare; filler. A handful of teens (who cannot act to save their lives, mind you) show up to get picked off one by one in between Cage’s ultimate smackdowns. They distract from the sheer absurdity by being loud and obnoxious, when the movie is primarily dialogue-free when Cage is on screen; and thank god too, because the writing is awful. It’s a tonal shift that makes you scrunch up your nose and reach for the remote to fast forward. But as I said, you gotta do what you’ve gotta do to book Nicholas Cage as your cover image. 

In short, Willy’s Wonderland is a scrappy b movie that doesn’t overstay its welcome but doesn’t fulfill its space either. If you like nonsense and Nick Cage, congrats. You’ll love it. If your sort of thing isn’t 90 minutes of animatronic weasels getting gut-punched, however, you may want to skip over this one. Whatever the case may be, thanks for reading and I hope you understand what I subject myself to in order to entertain you guys.

Willy’s Wonderland currently has a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 5.6/10 on IMDB.