Life in the fast lane pp.8-9 Driving rules, tips, new laws for 2016 The Armijo Signal Armijo High School, Fairfi eld January 2016 Volume XX, Issue V 2016 grads from start to end Four students plan for the future while living out the present Armijo wins contest Food donations refl ect By Enjoli Johnson community connections Staff writer For the second year in a row, There’s a time for beginnings and a time the second year of the competition, for endings. For four students in the graduating Armijo High School has come through class, the time for beginnings was on August 15, by donating the most food to the dis- 2012 and the ending of their high school career trict-wide goal to feed the hungry in will be on Friday, June 3, 2016. our community. The competition ran The four students featured are alphabeti- the week before Thanksgiving and cally the fi rst and last girls and guys in the Class Armijo brought in over 4,000 pounds of 2016 and, while they have all been at Armijo of food. Much of that was due to fi ve since their freshman year, they are very different very determined classes. in their goals and memories. ROTC brought in 755 canned Haley Adams plans to live in Southern goods, while Ms. Maria Macias’s California after she graduates from Chico State class brought in 710. Mr. Joe Klapper and hopes to be a second grade teacher. This and Ms. Sara Johnson spurred their has been her plan since middle school. classes on with 425 cans and 421 Misael Agraz has only recently decided cans respectively. Mr. TJ Sugimoto’s that he is going to work for a year and then at- class wasn’t far behind with 340 cans. tend Treasure Island Job Corps and train to be- The top two classes earned breakfast come a medical assistant. “I don’t want just one for their outstanding efforts. career,” he said. “I want to do as much as I can. The district collected over Culinary, mediical, paralegal, fl ight attendant and 7,200 pounds of food for the Contra therapist are my main focus; others will be con- Four students make sure that the graduation goes off without a sidered.” He wants to live in Long Beach or Los hitch by beginning and ending the procession alphabetically. Costa / Solano County Food Bank, Photos by Trevon Carrie, Janeva Jones, and London Legree according to Sheila Barrett McCabe, Angeles eventually. Executive Director, Administrative Logan Woodyard said that he just wants Services and Community Engage- to work for money and, when he gets the opportunity, he plans to move to Canada. ment for the Fairfi eld-Suisun Unifi ed Tiana Zeigler is the last student in the alphabetical list for the Class of 2016. She plans to go into act- School District. While Armijo brought ing or music and would like to “live in a settled area close to the city, in case I’d want to visit the city,” she said. in the majority of the donations, the She plans to study at a Community College fi rst as a way to save money and then she intends to transfer to a combination of the PSA, Matt Garcia Continued on page 7 - and Sem Yeto schools brought in an- other 2,371 pounds and Fairfi eld High From start to end contributed 936 pounds. In addition to the food col- Attendance consequences go beyond classroom lection, the district also held a “best- Missing classes can have a direct effect on keeping a driver’s license decorated booth” contest and, with the help of Ms. Jane Loveall’s art stu- By Tom Zheng dents, Armijo also won that competi- Staff writer tion. “This is a fun competition be- Many students are unaware that skipping school or classes can directly impact receiving one’s driver’s tween schools; the reality is the com- license? In California, for youths under the age of 18, a driver’s license is a privilege that is connected to munity is the biggest winner with so school attendance and enrollment. much food being collected! In ad- To be able to have a driver’s license, the youth must be enrolled in an education program. However, dition, this is a great opportunity to being absent or truant can lead to one’s driver’s license being revoked. “I am very worried about what this share the wonderful things taking means in the future” said one student who had frequent absences. “I am not absent constantly so I think I place at each of your schools,” said should be fi ne” said another student. Ms. McCabe. If a student has 15 unexcused absences within 90 days, he or she is considered a “drop-out” and can The prize that Armijo will be therefore have his or her driver’s license taken away. A letter from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) receiving for their outstanding contri- might be sent to that student explaining that the license is pending suspension. Once the student receives the butions is a 3-D printer. letter, he or she has 15 days to prove compliance to the DMV or request a hard- ship waiver from the principal of the school. TABLE OF CONTENTS If the student chooses to prove compliance, the school that he or she currently attends can verify compliant attendance to the DMV. If the student is News 1, 3-4 back in compliance, his or her record will be cleared and the student can get the Editorials, etc. 2 license back. People 5-7 The second option is for the student to request a hardship waiver from Center Spread 8-9 the school principal. Once the principal receives this note, he or she can grant a Senior News 10 hardship hearing within 30 days. However, the only two reasons for receiving a Clubs 11 hardship waiver are employment and medical reasons. Sports 12-13 Students who want to keep their driver’s license should attend school regularly or risk having it suspended indefi nitely. Entertainment 14-16 2 Editorials, etc. News 3 Editorial Dedication to Drewster Armijo students participate in entre- Performing for perfection On the road to safety Andrew “Drewster” Lucas was among the best type By Arianna Mestas of people in life. He was ambitious, goofy, and a really great With the new year, consider a new perspective preneurial business plan competition Staff writer friend. Andrew could break down on the dance floor like no- on car safety, both behind the wheel and on the streets. body’s business, and one of my fondest memories of him When on the road, our actions influence more than just Every year students look forward to auditioning was the Green Valley Middle School eighth grade dance for Honor Band, a group of talented musicians from each ourselves - and can definitely affect everyone around us. where he participated in a dance battle. Most of the school school that come together to play for the community. Each Because of this, it’s somewhat irresponsible to contem- was watching and laughing, but my man Drewster kept jiving musician submits a CD which includes three scales, a plate con- on. He was an inspiration in school, achieving the highest venience academic success possible. His example always made me chromatic scale, and sections from a certain musical com- in matters strive to do better. I am always going to miss those group position. taking chats where we were more than just friends. Together we There are four levels of Honor Band: County, place on were all family, and we miss you a lot, man. There are never Northern California, State, and National. This year three the street. going to be the right words to even adequately express how seniors are trying out for the top three levels. Aury Carras- No matter much I miss you. Happy 17th birthday, Andrew. I will always ca, Ysabelle Balomadres and Liem Nguyen all hope to find how many regret how time flew by so quickly. You are always going to their chairs in the prestigious group. They play euphonium, times it has be my friend, brother, and one of the most influential people flute, and alto saxophone respectively. All three are excit- that I will ever meet. Rest easy up in the stars Drewster, the and will be ed to show their skills through their recordings. OF will reunite again one day. repeated, Ms. Louise Jacob, band teacher, recommended -Arsh Sharma Andrew’s life has encouraged that everyone in the wind ensemble apply because “...it is “safety first” and influenced others. is still criti- Photo from Solano Community Foundation a good experience,” she said. “The process (of applying) is Andrew was funny, quirky, nice, honest, athletic and, the most important part; it makes you a better musician.” cal. among other things, my best friend. One of my earliest mem- The concert for the County Honor Band will be held ories with him was when he was at my house for breakfast before going to kindergarten. He at Rodriguez High School on Wednesday, January 6, and Being specifically told my mom he did not like cheese on his eggs. My mom made the eggs and put a driver cheese on by accident. Although he was so young. He was not going to let his opinion be stifled at Vacaville Performing Arts Theater January 8, 9, and 10. or even by an adult. He got the eggs with cheese, looked at them and said, “Mrs.