Looking into the future pp.8-9 Tomorrow is another day, something to plan The Armijo Signal Armijo High School, Fairfield May 2015 Volume XIX, Issue IX Teens involved in disaster drill AHS volunteers help in training for community organization ASB, Class election Students vote on-line By Haley Adam Student volunteer By Alejandro Vera Staff writer Fairfield’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) held a mock disas- By April 10, ten members of ter drill on Saturday, March 21, and 12 stu- the Class of 2016 turned in packets dents from leadership took advantage of the to run for Associated Student Body opportunity to participate as volunteers for (ASB) officers. Those students (Sky- the event. ler Ataide, Jasmine Singh, Tommy The students arrived at the fire sta- Weisz, Kaylen Anderson, Lacey tion and, with the help of two adult volun- Tomson, Alec Barrett, Merrisa Rios, teers, got straight into theater makeup, pre- Hunter Nelson, Gabe Vigil and Ash- paring to appear like victims of a crisis. The ley Van Belle) went through the cam- transformation included fake blood, latex, paigning process until April 17. The fake cuts, fake burns and fake bruises. Af- process included interviews with Mr. ter makeup was done the students were in- Brad Burzynski, leadership teacher, structed to sit down and listen to the instruc- speeches followed by a Q&A ses- tions given by Mr. Limneos. After instructions sion and on-line voting that spanned were given he placed the students in places from April 13-17. There were many throughout the fire station depending to the inspirational speeches, and following injuries that they had. the speeches there was the question After each student was placed, the and answer session. The candidates CERT team made their way into the build- campaigned with videos in the broad- ing. During the exercise the team had to in- cast, posters, and much more. While vestigate what happened and evacuate the there were only five positions for ASB injured and anybody else who was in the office, the other candidates will be eli- building. “Many of the students even helped gible for positions as officers for the by applying their “dramatic” side by moan- These students were doctored up with theater make-up for the drill. Class of 2016. ing, yelling or crying. I was very impressed,” (Bottom) “Victims” included Sierra Jones, Merrisa Rios, Haley Adam While these future seniors said Ms. Limneos who witnessed the event. and Ashley Santos. were diligently putting together their Photo by Ms. Cyndi Limneos campaigns, underclassmen were also preparing for the future. Like Continued on page 14 - their ASB counterparts, the students CERT volunteers put together videos, went out and in- troduced themselves to their class- mates and gave their speeches to One student recalls the horrors of the hurricane the leadership class. Throughout the week of April 20-24, students were New Orleans transplant experienced historic storm a decade ago encouraged to go on-line and vote for By Trina Reynolds their favorite candidates. People editor Each candidate, whether for ASB or class office, was expected to People who have lived in California long enough will experience an earthquake turn in a form signed by at least 25 of some magnitude. Natural disasters such as earthquakes can make a person students which was part of their com- feel helpless, at the mercy of the Earth’s strength and the weather’s chaos. Jus- pleted packet. They were also ex- tin Pennison, currently a junior at Armijo High, had a serious experience with a pected to turn in an Officer Biography natural disaster at the age of seven. Its name was Hurricane Katrina. sheet explaining why they were run- Pennison was just a kid living in a suburb within New Orleans, Louisiana, when ning and what background they had. Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. To this day, he can remember his experi- The speech and Q&A session was ence vividly. “It stays with you. You don’t really forget,” he said. He can remember most important, earning the students trying to leave the city. Cars blocked the exits. People had reached the point of 40% of their vote. This score was to abandoning their cars and fleeing on foot. Pennison be evaluated by Mr. Burzynski and Justin lived through history and survived. and his dad, despite the hurricane warnings, had TABLE OF CONTENTS the class adviser. The remaining 60% Photo by Nathaly Merida to turn back. They returned home and watched the of the vote was split equally between waters rise over the sidewalks and streets and into the votes of the leadership class and News 1, 3-5 their apartment. Pennison and his dad were pushed upstairs, grabbing what Editorials, etc. 2 the votes of the student body as a pictures they could and some food from the pantry. People 6-7 whole. Pennison can remember sitting up on the roof of the apartment, eating The winners will be an- pop-tarts snatched from the pantry and feeling the house rock. His dad had Center Spread 8-9 nounced in the upcoming June issue managed to bring a radio up to the roof, where they listened for updates on the Senior News 10 of The Armijo Signal and the students Clubs 11 will find out their positions at the an- Sports 12-13 Continued on page 2 - nual leadership banquet that will take Entertainment 14-16 place in mid-May. Hurricane Katrina remembered 2 Editorials, etc. News 3 What does the future hold? Bike to school, Success calling The future is incredibly valuable – and incredibly unreliable – for a rea- son. Fiction stories have explored the idea of foresight, the ability to predict save the environment By Tatanisha Johnson Staff writer events in the future, as a supernatural power with dire consequences. In these By Trina Reynolds stories, those who can completely predict the future benefit immensely from People editor Temetruis O’Bannon is only a sophomore but he is already making a name for himself their power, but quickly find that their knowledge defeats the fun in living day-to- in the business world. O’Bannon started his Amazon business in October 2014, selling day life. In the real world, most predictions are actually just estimations. Even Do you live close to Armijo? Do you like to bike? Do IPhone 6 cases. O’Bannon is doing this “to gain money and to start a career for my life,” the most experienced futurologists incorrectly predict trends more often than you want to help the environment? If you answered yes to he said. “I won’t stop un- they correctly do, and even the each of those questions, you should definitely participate til I die.” most promising patterns may end in National Bike to Work Week, from Monday, May 11, to Running an on- up creating completely different Let Journalism Thrive Friday, May 15. line company isn’t easy outcomes. By Elyce Dixon There are countless reasons to try biking to school. but it is beneficial. He If the future is so unreli- News co-editor First of all, riding a bike to school helps the environment. gets about $600 in profit a Bikes use no fuel, don’t require toxic batteries or motor able, then why do so many fields month and uses much of Around the world people can receive news of varying oil, and use up a lot less energy than a car. Take this for that to restock his inven- (from mathematics to economics topics from all around the world, thanks to the luxury of free example: say that you drive a midsize car five days a week tory. He also gives 10% to political science) try to map it press. The press is a very important aspect of society because for a year and your commute is about 10 miles round trip. to his church. O’Bannon out? One obvious benefit is profit, it allows us to be informed, to discuss recent topics and to al- You have just polluted the air with 1.3 tons of CO2. Rid- gets the iPhone cases in as being able to gauge changes low us to take action if need be. It’s for these reasons that the ing a bike to school results in a healthier atmosphere, and bulk, between200-300 United Nations (UN) created a World Press Freedom Day that is in demand is the money-making since each one of us takes in about 21,600 breaths every cases at a time. He celebrated on May 3 worldwide. The first celebration was in May day, every single person on planet Earth should be an ad- dream of economists. Another is 1994 after a declaration by the UN in December 1993. sends them to an Ama- reliability; the future is notoriously The UN created this day for several specific reasons. vocate for fresher air. zon distribution center. unpredictable, and being able They wanted to emphasize the idea of free press and let it be Additionally, riding a bike is enjoyable, much pref- When someone orders a to infer changes and prepare for recognized throughout the world. This day was also created so erable to riding in a car. From feeling the wind in your case, he sends Amazon them can help any organization that media can be defended from attacks about the things they face to simply avoiding traffic, riding a bike can lower your all the information, and publish and honor those who have sacrificed in order for press stress levels and give you some time to enjoy the outdoors to avoid obstacles and provides a they send the case to the to be prevalent.