By: Savannah Valdez

Are you looking for a sweet treat that will sweep everyone off of their feet? Then you came to the right place! For this month’s issue the sweet treat is Strawberry cake cookies! These are a great summer treat for you and your friends.

Here are some ingredients you’ll need:

• 1 box of strawberry cake mix
• 2 whole eggs
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup of powdered sugar
• ⅓ cup of flour (for rolling dough)
• Cookie sheet

Let’s start baking:

1. To start you will begin preheating the oven to 375 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicone liners.
2. In a medium sized bowl insert the 2 eggs and vegetable oil and whisk till combined well.
3. Add into the medium sized bowl your box of cake mix and ½ cup of powdered sugar. Once added, mix all ingredients together well.
4. Pour the ⅓ cup of flour mixture into a bowl. Using a cookie or ice cream scooper, you will make balls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Once you roll the balls of dough, you then place them in the flour mixture then once coated, you can place them on the cookie sheet.
5. Once you have all the dough balls on the sheet, you can then insert them into the oven and bake for about 10-15 minutes till they slightly rise.
6. Once risen, you will take them out of the oven, let them cool, and enjoy!

There you have it guys, all it takes is 6 simple steps to make these delicious cookies. You will be the one they won’t forget this summer! Enjoy!

By: Savannah Valdez

  

         Are you “eggcited” for Easter this year? Well I have the perfect easter treat for you to make for you and your family. This carrot cake roll will be such a big hit, they’ll be begging for more.

 

Here are some ingredients you will need:

• All purpose flour
•  Sugar 
• Baking powder and salt
• Ground cinnamon
• 3 large eggs (preferably room temp)
• Vanilla extract
• ½ cup of Vegetable oil
• Powdered sugar
• 1 cup of finely grated carrots
• Cream cheese
•  Butter

 

Let’s get into making this sweet treat:

1. To start prepping you will need to get a 10×15-inch jelly roll pan (or cookie sheet), you will then spray all aspects of the pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a medium mixing bowl you will need to combine the dry ingredients(flour, salt, cinnamon etc.)and whisk them together.
3. Next in a separate bowl you will need to whisk up the eggs as well as the sugar and vanilla for 1 minute, then mix in the half cup of vegetable oil.
4. Add all the ingredients together and mix them well, after mixing is done you can then add your cup of finely grated carrots and continue to mix, but make sure not to overmix the batter!
5. Now to bake our delicious treat! Pour the cake batter in and spread it all around your pan. You will then bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes.
6. As soon as your treat is out of the oven, turn it onto a clean surface that has been lightly dusted with powdered sugar(this prevents the cake from sticking to the table). Then you will begin rolling your cake tightly and setting it to cool!
7. While your cake is cooling let’s get to making the frosting! To make the cream cheese frosting you will start by beating the cream cheese and butter together, then add the vanilla and powdered sugar and start mixing until the frosting is soft.
8. Once the cake is completely cooled, you will begin gently unrolling the roll and make sure it has no holes or cracking. You will then add in the cream cheese frosting and begin sprinkling the carrot slices. Once that is finished you will then begin rolling the cake back up and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. Once all cooled you can present this amazing treat to your family and friends!

There you have it, all it takes is 8 simple steps to make this carrot cake roll everyone will love! Hope you enjoy it!

By: Savannah Valdez and Aaliyah Herrera

For this month’s issue we had the opportunity to interview the one and only, Coach Schorsch! Coach Schorsch is an amazing geometry teacher here at PHS who has been teaching for 15 years. He has fulfilled many positions including assistant coaching, PE coach, and a fantastic role model for his students. 

Coach Schorsch started his career by attending many colleges including Texas A&M, Temple Jr college and A&M Corpus Christi, Where he played baseball and ran track. He started out in electrical engineering then moved on to sports management with a minor in business.

Coach Schorsch didn’t choose this job, instead it chose him. He was fresh out of college and didn’t have a set direction to go. He had a couple of friends who worked here at PHS and they decided it would be a good idea if he started coaching here, so they called him over and he gladly accepted. After coaching he moved up to being an assistant coach in PE, after this he decided he had an interest in teaching, so he switched to teaching geometry and now he has so many students and teachers that appreciate him. 

When Coach Schorsch mentioned he assisted in coaching we thought it would be best to ask him what his motto is for all his athletes. He replied by saying that “the only thing I want from my athletes is for you to always try to be your  best and you will succeed.” His motto has inspired many student athletes here at PHS!

Even though Coach Schorsch is always determined to work, outside of school he enjoys many outdoor activities including fishing, hunting, golfing, and even enjoys watching sports. Coach Schorsch is very outgoing and does not like to waste a minute of time in his daily life.

We are very appreciative to have Coach Schorsch here with us, he is a very important contributor to the PHS family and we look forward to seeing all he accomplishes throughout the years!  

By: Savannah Valdez & Aaliyah Herrera

 

For this month’s staff spotlight we chose Ms. Summers, a wonderful health science teacher here at PHS. She is a very passionate and inspiring teacher, who is always so full of joy and determined to put a smile on students’ faces. This is why we are glad to honor her for this month’s issue!

This year is Ms. Summers first year here at PHS and she is so grateful to be a part of our community. With this being said, we had the opportunity to interview her and ask her some questions about her journey here at PHS so far. Our first question was “Why did you choose this job position here at PHS?” She replied “By trade, I have the desire to help and care for people. In doing so, I found that I love to teach and actually had an act for it. I chose this particular position because I get to be in both nursing and the education role. I hope to help students pick a path and assist in reaching that milestone.”

Ms. Summers mentioned that she loves to teach and also is dedicated to helping her students achieve their goals, so we then asked her, “What is your favorite aspect about being a part of PHS?” She stated that her favorite aspect about being a part of PHS is the connections she has made with her students and that she aspires to create and maintain a safe and positive environment for students whether they attend her class or not.

Considering her new position this year, we asked Ms. Summers, how she is liking it so far? She replied saying, “Some days I have absolutely no clue what day it is or what I am doing but I LOVE it.” With that being said we were curious as to what she does in her free time, when she isn’t helping her students. Our next question was, “What are your hobbies outside of school?” She said that her favorite thing to do besides helping her students is to make memories with her baby girl, Avery.

Ms. Summers is a very special teacher here at PHS who cares deeply for her students and is always willing to do her best to make sure not only her students, but herself succeeds. She has shown to be very committed and caring. Your good deeds never go unnoticed, she’s making a huge impact on us and we can’t wait to see what you have planned for the future.

By: Savannah Valdez

 

Are you looking for a festive treat for this Halloween season? Then you’ve come to the right place! This chocolate-covered pumpkin patch is the perfect treat for you and your family & friends.

 

These are the ingredients you will need:

1 pint of fresh strawberries

2-3 cups of orange candy melts

2 tablespoon coconut oil

⅔ packaged crushed sandwich cookies(optional)

1 box of toothpicks

 

Here are your steps for this sweet treat:

1. Thoroughly wash and dry your strawberries 
2. Place your candy melts into a heat-safe measuring cup or short glass and microwave for 30 seconds, stirring in between. Make sure your candy melts do not burn and allow them to cool before use.
3. Prepare a cookie sheet along with parchment paper onto a medium-sized pan. Insert a toothpick into the top of each strawberry, this makes it easy to hold and dip your strawberry.
4. Dip your strawberries into the chocolate and place them on your cookie sheet. Place into the fridge for 10 minutes to solidify them, if the chocolate looks too thin another layer may be needed!
5. Once your strawberries are hardened, put the remaining chocolate into a ziplock or piping bag and cut a tiny hole at the corner of the bag. You then will draw vertical lines across the strawberries and chill for another 10 minutes.
6. Once your strawberries are completely chilled you can serve them on a fresh bed of crushed cookies and enjoy!

 

There you have it, all it takes is 6 simple steps and you will have the best-looking treat for this Halloween season! Enjoy!

By: Noah Ramos & Savannah Valdez 

 

 

As many students were eager to meet our new principal, Mr. Portillo, the Quill Staff wished to welcome him as our first Staff Spotlight for the year. Mr. Portillo was happy to have been chosen for this momentous article. To start off, we wanted to know the main reason why Mr. Portillo wanted to work in this district, specifically here at PHS. He claimed to have been in the area before and had lived in West Texas when he happened to see an administrative position open here near the San Antonio area. Since Mr. Portillo wanted to go back to a traditional high school, he felt it was the perfect opportunity and applied here to our school PHS. He previously had already been to Devine and Cotulla but never close enough to travel into Pleasanton which encouraged him to check this town out even more. After the interview process with the school district, Mr. Portillo was hired to be the principal here at PHS.

What motivates Mr. Portillo is when people doubt him or he doubts himself. He knows that we are all human and should stand back up when we fall. Even if at the moment it may hurt, it is for the best. “Remaining positive ensures that you can overcome any obstacles you face. If those around you don’t always have the confidence, they might be too afraid to show it, and that’s okay.” This is Mr. Portillo’s mindset and he won’t stop for any obstacle that blocks his path as long as he stays positive to himself then nothing will keep him from his goal. 

Mr. Portillo didn’t plan to become a campus administrator until 10 years ago. He was a Teacher/Coach and was approached by the principal of the current school he was employed at. They suggested that Mr. Portillo would be a great administrator. They then asked if he had ever thought of becoming one himself but Mr. Portillo at the time enjoyed being a coach and declined the offer. He was then asked to think about it. Later, Mr. Portillo decided to go back to school in order to be available to become a principal and ended up getting hired as an assistant principal in Midland. After another 2-3 years the principal at Midland asked if he had thought about working on his superintendence. Like before, Mr. Portillo felt fine where he was and declined the offer once again. They wanted him to think about getting it done himself and eventually, he got his superintendence done after thinking hard about it. He had planned to get into college coaching, but after trying out being an administrator, he loved it too much to give it up. Even though he took on a new position, he still made an effort to attend games for the kids. He still pondered becoming a superintendent himself but knew he wouldn’t get to work with kids as often but liked to interact with his students and get to know them better. 

One of his goals for PHS is to improve student outcomes and feels it should be everyone on the campus who works in education. As well as improving academics and helping students who struggle in school rather than leaving them to figure it out for themselves. Mr. Portillo wants to make sure when students leave high school they will be ready for the outside world. Even though not every person may be able to do college there are still other options available to those who take the opportunity to inquire about it. So hopefully after reading this article you got to learn more about our new principal Mr. Portillo.