Prepare the Sendoff!

By: Farah Standley

The Pleasanton Baseball Team has been doing exceptionally well! With an overall record of 19 wins, 5 losses, and 2 ties, as well as a 9-0 record in District, the boys are really showing what they can do on the field. This team has been working very hard to get better and further in the playoffs than they ever have before. They have 3 games left until Playoffs, and you can bet they are getting more and more pumped with every game that goes by. 

Tanner Hollis, a 4 year letter and 3 year starter for our Eagles, generously shared his feelings about himself and the season. “My favorite thing about Pleasanton Baseball is the fanbase we have”, he noted, “Our fans make the atmosphere amazing, and that’s something I love to play in.” Tanner has been an amazing addition to the great group of athletes we have, and always gets everyone pumped up and ready to play. As an athlete, he has many personal goals, and according to him, one would be, “To be a role model for incoming players and young kids so that way they know what to do when they get here”. Having a lot of seniors on the team can be confusing, leadership wise, but he says it actually helps a lot because they all have relatively the same ideals. He feels great about the season so far, as they have never been undefeated in District, and they are well on their way to accomplishing that. Many people around school know that Tanner is taking his career to the next level and playing college baseball for McMurry University. “I’m looking forward to the atmosphere and competition that college baseball offers,” he said, “There is nothing like it.” Good luck, baseball!

Autism Awareness Month

By: Farah Standley

 

Amazon.com: 50 Child Size Autism Awareness Wristbands - Colorful Puzzle Pieces Silicone Bracelets : Toys & Games

National Autism Awareness Month takes place during the month of April. It was created to raise awareness and help to encourage change in schools and communities. Some symptoms of Autism are finding it hard to understand what others are thinking or feeling, not getting social “rules” or “cues”, anxiety about social situations, finding it hard to make friends or preferring to be alone, acting blunt, rude, or uninterested in other people unintentionally, finding it hard to express how you feel, taking things very literally or not picking up sarcasm, and not liking change or trying new things especially when it comes to schedule. An interesting fact is that women tend to hide it better. They show fewer signs, hide their feelings more, and seem to cope better.

During Autism Awareness Month, people thank and show appreciation for people in their lives who have Autism. On April 2, various buildings, homes, and communities are lit up blue to support. Fundraisers and walks are held throughout the month to raise money or show support as well. It is so important that we promote kindness and equality for people who live with Autism. People also engage in hands-on activities from home, reading books about Autism, or simply joining the conversation online. We all need to come together to put an end to the bullying of children and adults with Autism. Happy Autism Awareness Month!

Bye For Now

By: Farah Standley

Pleasanton wins second straight overtime game to earn playoff spot - Pleasanton Express

Senior Captain, Mary Martinez, shows off her swift moves

 

The Pleasanton women’s basketball team ended their season round 1 in the playoffs, with an overall record of 16-21, and District record of 7-5. The Eagles had a fulfilling season, having lots of seniors on the team, and we are extremely proud of their determination and hard work. Though the season was cut semi-short, the girls made the playoffs, put up a fight against some really tough teams, and went out with their heads held high. When asked about the end of the season, Senior Captain, Mary Martinez stated, “It was a bittersweet feeling, because it was my senior year, but I’m glad that I won’t have to run 5’s anymore at practices”. With so many seniors on the team, there were a lot of team goals and accomplishments, and according to Mary, one of the goals of the team was to go further in the playoffs than the previous years, and one of the team’s favorite accomplishments was almost beating the #1 team in the District, Somerset. Mary’s favorite personal accomplishment of basketball was surpassing a former PHS athlete’s stealing record. Her favorite thing about the game of basketball is making new friends and simply playing the game. Mary has no certain favorite memory from high school basketball, because it was all amazing, but she says the rides home were always fun, as they always had fun together even after a loss. As for after high school, she intends to major in kinesiology/education to someday become a teacher-coach and to possibly continue her love for basketball and join a college basketball team as a walk-on athlete. Goodbye for now, Pleasanton Women’s Basketball. We are excited to see what you have in store for next year.

The Closest Black Hole to Earth

By: Farah StandleyWhat Are Black Holes? | NASA

 

Black holes are created by the center of a very large star falling in on itself, resulting in a supernova, which is basically a gigantic star explosion. It might seem cool, but let me tell you about how dangerous and scary these circles of doom can be!

Recently, scientists discovered the closest known black hole to Earth yet! Named Gaia BH1, this black hole is 1566 lightyears away in the constellation Ophiuchus and currently dormant. So don’t worry, it’s not close enough to be a threat. It is 1400 lightyears closer than the next closest black hole to Earth, which is in the constellation Monoceros. There are likely millions of black holes in our home galaxy, the Milky Way, but this one is close enough to be considered in our “cosmic backyard”. It is 10 times more massive than the Sun, and could have originated from a star as big as 20 times more massive than the Sun.

Black holes usually reveal themselves with x-rays they emit while stripping gas from other nearby black holes. This is not the case for this one, though. Gaia BH1 was discovered by scientists seeing its effect on a star in its planetary system. Scientists also discovered that this mysterious black hole is orbiting a ginormous star, how crazy is that! The gravity in black holes  is so strong, not even light can escape them. If we were to go into a black hole, we would be compressed from head to toe horizontally, but stretched vertically at the same time. This process is known as spaghettification, probably because afterward you would end up looking like a spaghetti noodle. If it were to swallow Earth, we would all be doomed. The planet would be ripped apart bit by bit, and every person on 

Earth would be spaghettified individually. Lucky for us, that won’t be our fate because it is too far away.

🎵Running Up That Hill🎶

By: Farah Standley

2022-2023 Cross Country Team

 

To start off the season, the Eagles went to Floresville, where all of the athletes fought hard to tackle steep hills and tough competition. The varsity girls got 7th place as a team overall in the 2-mile race, seeing amazing performances by all of the girls, including Kassidy Vickers (Finished 12th; Time: 13:19), Kara Medina (Finished 31st; Time: 14:02), and Shalyn Gutierez (Finished 33rd; Time: 14:03). Shortly following them came Shanna Hime, Evalynn Garcia, Aryana Partida, Jauslyn Ramirez, and Mallory Fey. The JV girls came in 7th place as a team, with contributions from Syrena Clark, Aleza Robledo, Xochitl Hernandez, Vanessa Chapa, Katelynn Garza, and Rebecca Martinez. The varsity boys came trucking through at 5th place as a team overall. The leading scorer for Pleasanton was Micah Klein at 17th place, with an 18:23 3-mile. Next came Xavier Rodriguez (Finished 37th; Time: 19:25), Ian Rodriguez (Finished 45th; Time: 19:45), Jayden Ogg(Finished 46th; Time: 19:45), Joseph Cuellar (Finished 73rd; Time: 21:00), and Logan Knox (Finished 85th; Time: 21:57).  Every athlete on the Pleasanton cross country team put in all of their effort, and pushed through mental and physical pain to better themselves and their teammates. They encouraged each other through long summer practices and early morning workouts before school, and now that the season has started, they plan to push each other all the way to regionals, and hopefully, the state meet in Round Rock, Texas. 

We had an interesting interview with Coach Foster about the season, and she seemed very excited to see what the team has to offer this year. She has been teaching/coaching for 6 years, and this is her first year here at Pleasanton. She graduated from Jourdanton High School and graduated college from Texas State University. When asked about how she feels this season will go, considering the brand new team, she stated, “I think the team is going to do very well this year, it’s a young team across the board, with only two seniors… they are going to do very well pre-season… we’re going to have a good chance to go to regionals, but also win district… girls and boys.” We also had a good conversation with Kassidy Vickers, the number one runner on the team. First, we asked how she feels about the start of her season so far, she said, “I feel like the start has already been good … It’s only been the third meet and I already have a new P.R., and I’ve just been getting better every single meet.” We asked how she feels about her new teammates, and she replied, “They’re doing really good, they’re really stepping it up, being new to high school, and they’re really strong competitors… I feel like we have a really strong team this year”. We asked how she feels about the new coach, Coach Foster, and she stated, “She’s a good coach… I would say she’s definitely helped us out… just conditioning and… working on… specific areas like endurance.” We questioned what some goals and mindsets she and the team shared for the year, she said, “Definitely a goal…for our team is to make it to State, I think we have a good chance of doing that this year, and then be District Champions… A goal for me is to be District Champ.” We also asked how far she thinks she as an individual will get in terms of competition this year, she stated, “This year, I honestly see myself making it to state because the times I’ve been hitting are… better than my state times.” Her current P.R. (Personal Record)  is 12:27, which is a seven-second jump from her P.R. last year, 12:34. The team looks forward to gaining a lot of success this year, and all of the athletes have a good outlook on the future.

Paraprofessional of the Year

By: Farah Stanley & Allison Collins

Mrs. Blanco has been honored as the paraprofessional of the year. She is a very important asset to Pleasanton High School, and is very deserving of this achievement. We sat down and had a nice conversation with Mrs. Blanco. When asked how she feels about achieving the award, Mrs. Blanco said “I feel very honored to receive this award. It makes me feel good, it makes me feel appreciated; That everyone here at school and my colleagues see the hard work that I do, so I can accomplish student success.” Mrs. Blanco shared her favorite thing about being a paraprofessional: “I enjoy being here at school. I enjoy working with the students. I like to see them progress through the year, and when I meet y’all the very first day of school, y’all are a little shy. By the time we leave, I can see how much y’all have grown academically and as a human being.” She also shared that her favorite thing about the students is that, “Every student is different…Obviously, truly, I enjoy every single student in their own ways. I’ve learned from you all, and y’all learn from me.” She has been told, because of her nurturing ways and life lessons, that she is like a “school mom” for some students. Mrs. Blanco went on in the conversation to share exactly what she loves about her work: “I like giving academic support, but at the same time if I’m able to guide you on the right path in life, that’s what I love.” Mrs. Blanco has been working in Pleasanton for 4 years, and spoke on how amazed she was watching some kids from freshman year to single year. Speaking of, Mrs. Blanco graduated from Del Rio high school in 1993, and went on to attend college at Sul Ross State University. Mrs. Blanco wasn’t always a paraprofessional here, she served as a long term sub here at Pleasanton. We should all take a moment to appreciate Mrs. Blanco and all that she does.

PHS Tennis

By: Farah Standley

Devon Clark and his new medal

The tennis season started with a well-played tournament. The players are getting better, and preparing for an amazing season. The tennis team went into battle at Clemens on Friday, January 21st. Devon Clark got 3rd place overall and won consolation, as the only Pleasanton athlete that placed. I interviewed Shyanne Sexton after the tournament, and when asked about how she feels about the season, she replied, “I feel it started off rough, but we have a lot of new players and we are changing it up this Spring. I feel like we have a fresh start.” The players have been practicing hard every day after school. Upon being asked about practice, Shyanne stated “I feel we have made a lot of progress during practice since last year. It was awkward adjusting to the new coach and new environment, but we are getting into a groove.” The tennis team has their eyes on District, and are preparing for success. On Thursday, January 27, 2022, the JV tennis team will fight hard to win our first home tournament! The Varsity team will follow after on Friday the 28th. You can come to the home tennis courts by the ROTC building to show your support.                                                  

Advice Column

By: Farah Standley

There are so many words of wisdom that could make your life better, and you may not even know you need them! Let’s go over a few…

  • “Would your seven year old self be proud of you right now?”

This is a very good question to think about. If you think very deeply, you might find the answer is yes, or maybe you’ll find the answer is no. The thought that a younger, more sweet and innocent version of yourself might not approve of the person you are today can hit hard. This question can serve as a small motivation for someone to change! Would your 7 year old self be proud of who you’ve become?

  • “If you have two good friends… you’re rich!”

This quote makes a very good and important point about how in life, it is the quality of the friends you have, not the quantity. I feel like most people could say they would rather have one or two amazing friends than 100 toxic ones, because you aren’t bettering yourself by surrounding yourself with people that don’t make your life better.

  • “Pay no attention to those who talk behind your back, it only means they’re two steps behind you.”

This quote is expressing that people who talk behind your back are less mature, and most likely envious of you, and you shouldn’t waste your time and energy over people that are insignificant to your lifestyle. So surround yourself with people who are on your level of maturity and will appreciate you for who you are, and do the same for your friends.

  • “If you don’t have the courage to take a step forward, you will always be in the same place.”

This quote is showing that you can get out of any situation as long as you have the courage to get yourself out of it. Get up, dust yourself off, and keep walking! We are put through certain situations to make us stronger, and if we jump out of our comfort zone, we will only take a lesson and a memory from those times.

  • “Be careful what you say, words can be forgiven, but not forgotten.”

There are no erase buttons for words. Everything you say is out in the air forever! If you decide to say things that affect someone else in a bad way, they may decide to give you another chance, but the words might stay in their memory forever! So be careful what you decide to put in other people’s minds.

DIY Halloween Costume

By: Farah Standley

Many Halloween costumes can be expensive and hard to make, but worry no longer because today we are going to talk about some cool, cheap, and easy-to-make DIY Halloween costumes! The costume we are going to highlight in this article is the hilarious “Chick Magnet ” costume!

I don’t know about you, but I would absolutely love to spend my Halloween having fun in this fun show-stopper. I would definitely say that this is worth the time, and will be a great conversation with everyone! Here are a few simple steps to follow when making this costume:

  1. First, use cardboard and colored construction paper, or cut cloth to make the big magnet. 
  2. Then, with color, glue, or tape on the chicks. The photos demonstrate plastic, rubber, and cloth baby chicks as examples. 
  3. Lastly, use all black or all white clothes as a good background for the magnet. DRESSING CLASSY COULD GO BETTER WITH THE COSTUME!

List of materials:

  1. Cardboard or Cloth
  2. Any Glue
  3. Scissors
  4. Possibly Red and Grey Colored Paper
  5. All black or all white shirt and pants or fancy clothes
  6. Plastic, rubber, cloth, or any other material toy chicks