El Rancho High School Thursday, January 30, 2020 Volume 68.5 El Rodeo Inside look at our guests from Beijing, China pages 4-5 School construction to start next week page 2 Remembering Kobe Bryant page 8 Campus - 2 Opinion - 3 Center - 4 Center - 5 Index @elrodeonews Features - 6 Sports - 7 Entertainment - 8 www.elrodeonews.com EL RODEO, PG 2 El Rancho High School JAN 30, 2020 CAMPUS In loving memory of Anthony Rojas Hernandez BY DIEGO GONZALEZ of Rojas, Emmanuel Huitron gathered near the area of the ac- EL RODEO STAFF WRITER was among the dozens in disbe- cident days after the incident, lief over the tragic incident. “My leaving flowers and decorated On Friday, January 10th, first reaction when I heard the posters in tribute of Rojas’ life. El Rancho High School tragically news about Anthony was this In an interview with CBS lost 15-year old Anthony Rojas has to be fake,” Huitron said. news, a close friend of Rojas, Hernandez in a hit and run incident. “If I could say one Justin Villa said, “I didn’t want The students of El Rancho last thing to Anthony, it would to believe the news but I had to, High School mourned the loss of be that he was truly a good I saw him in the hospital and Rojas in the days that followed, friend,” Huitron continued. I was heartbroken. I lost my and shared various posts on so- The staff at El Rancho brother, I lost my best friend.” cial media organizing a school High School also organized a Last week, the school wide tribute to Rojas on Mon- small event in which students joined together in a moment of day, January 13th. could send a message to the silence for Rojas, in which ev- Hundreds of students family of Rojas, and hundreds In loving memory of Anthony Rojas Hernandez ery student at El Rancho took a across campus wore articles of of students showed their sup- minute to remember his life, and black clothing in remembrance port for his family and friends. and the news report was surreal to port through posters and flyers pay their respects to Anthony of Rojas upon their return to The sudden loss of Rojas many of the people who knew him. made in remembrance of him. Rojas Hernandez one last time. school, and showed their sup- left many students in disbelief, Fellow student and friend Close friends of Rojas all El Rancho moves on with phase one of construction plan BY ALEXIS GALLEGOS due to disagreements over how would like after construction, EL RODEO STAFF WRITER to proceed with construction. with new and old buildings. As After listening to the a teacher, I was a part of the Since September of 2017, city and students of El Ran- first move, and am not sure if the idea of a new, modern El cho High School, the Board we are getting new art facili- Rancho High School has been members have switched to al- ties for the VAPA department.” a topic in the hot seat. Count- ternate methods of a remodel After years of getting the less community meetings were instead of a whole renovation. plans approved, the fencing of held in order to discuss the pros Instead of an entirely the construction area will be- and cons, in the end, the idea new design, the ERUSD Board gin on February 2nd to the 3rd. has finally turned into a plan. Members decided to instead, The majority of the El Ran- The original $200 mil- improve athletic facilities and cho campus will be restricted lion plan for the “new high some other specific buildings. for construction workers only. school” was to completely Art teacher, Mr. Magda- Shown on the map, the Map of Construction Fencing Plans demolish and rebuild the leno says, “To be honest, I’m service road near the cafeteria dents and staff park now? ball, track and soccer practice. school within several phases. still a little confused and not and main gym will not be ac- A solution is across El Ran- Many alternatives have been All phases would take quite clear about what is actu- cessible, along with the North cho’s main gate at Rio Hon- brought up such as Smith Park’s place between the years of ally happening in the process Parking lot, where many stu- do’s parking lot, or the back baseball and soccer field, Rio 2019-2025, however, the Board because we, teachers of El dents and staff park their cars. of the school by the new gym. Vista’s softball fields, and the decided to suspend all con- Rancho, have not received a The question that is Another question California High School’s track. struction plans for some time, 3D model of what our campus brought up is, where will stu- was where will baseball, soft- Dons say goodbye to the Don Memorial Stadium with farewell festival and stories we have shared as one stadium we have many memo- BY ALEXIS GALLEGOS Don family. It was important to ries in. But overall, I’m very EL RODEO STAFF WRITER uphold the legacy of our ERHS excited to see everyone come community and we wanted to have together as one big Don family.” As the ERUSD Board this celebration and farewell.” The Farewell Festival will moves forward with construc- After many discussions, take place on January 31st from tion plans for the new high the idea of a “Last Friday Night 5:30 to 9pm at the Don Memo- school, the fencing of the Don Lights” was brought to the table. rial Stadium. There will be car- Memorial Stadium will be- A two-in-one festival and carnival nival games with prizes along gin starting February 2nd. where students, friends, and fam- with food being sold. The As- Many students, alumni, ily all over the community could sociated Student Body advises and administration of El Rancho spend the very last moments to bring blankets and chairs wanted to honor the football field Photo by Mrs. Lillian-Lugo on the football field, together. for the movie night and perfor- one more time, before it’s too late. us. It sucks how they’re destroying Body Advisor and Art teacher, Senior, Angie Campos mances by numerous ERHS Senior, Monica Aguirre a place that means a lot to many of Mr. Magdaleno, adds, “It was says, “It will be a very bitter- clubs and city organizations. says, “I wanted everyone to re- the students, so we wanted to say something that admin and stu- sweet moment for our senior Make sure to stop by unite one last time at a place that one last goodbye all together.” dents wanted to have as a way to class and alumni as it will be and bring friends and family to holds so many memories for all of ERHS’ Associated Student commemorate all the memories one of the last moments in the join this heart-felt celebration. Advisor.....Paul Zeko El Rodeo is published monthly except during vacations by Reporter.....Diego Gonzalez the El Rancho High School journalism class. The El Rodeo of- Editor-in-Chief.....Grecia Haro- Reporter.....Araceli Correa fices are located at 6501 S. Passons Blvd., Pico Rivera, CA 90660 Flores Reporter.....Alexis Gallegos in room X-1. The paper is printed by The Gardena Valley News. Copy Editor.....Sophia Lugo El Rodeo, the student newspaper of El Rancho High School is Reporter.....Grecia Haro-Flores an open, public forum for student expression and an opportunity to dis- Copy Editor.....Julia Diaz cuss its audience’s issues of concern. Opinions expressed are those Reporter.....Rocio Estrada of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the position of the school Reporter.....Alejandro Melchor board, administration, sponsors, parents, student body or advertisers. Section Editors Reporter.....Angie Campos The Editorial Board, which consists of the editor-in-chief, sec- Cover....Grecia Haro-Flores tion editors, and assistant editors, will determine the content of El Rodeo. Reporter.....Julia Diaz Student journalists on the El Rodeo staff will make every ef- Campus....Rocio Estrada Reporter.....Sophia Lugo fort to publish following the legal definitions of libel, obscenity and in- Opinion..... Alejandro Melchor Reporter..... Jordan Uribe vasion of privacy. Consistent with California Education Code section Center....Alexis Gallegos 48907, the staff will refrain from printing material that may incite stu- Reporter..... Rodrigo Osorio dents, be a violation of school regulations or disrupt school operations. Features....Sophia Lugo Reporter.....Amanda Escobar At the beginning of each semester, journalism students will be reminded Sports.....Grecia Haro-Flores of the legal, financial and ethical implications of each article they write. Reporter.....Alexia Garcia Ed Code 48907 affirms the right of high school newspapers to publish Entertainment....Araceli Correa whatever they choose, so long as the content is not explicitly obscene, libel- Photo Editor.....Carlos Rojo ous, or slanderous. Also, there shall be no prior restraint of material pre- pared for official school publications except insofar as it violates this section. JAN. 30, 2020 El Rancho High School EL RODEO, PG 3 OPINIONOPINIONOPINION Whittier College is an acceptable alternative for graduation Girls sports It is only four and a half miles programs deserve away from El Rancho. This is a plus since most wouldn’t have to more attention drive out too far for the ceremony. BY RODRIGO OSORIO Although it’s unfortunate EL RODEO STAFF WRITER that this year’s seniors will not be able to graduate from their El Rancho’s girls’ water school, they will be reward- polo team has not only had to ed with the following incen- battle through intense practices, tives because of their sacrifice; tough opponents, and impor- The 2020 senior class will tant league matchups but also have a plaque with the entire through a broken pool heater.