Laredo ISD Volume 2, Issue 2

December 14, 2018

The Phoenix Quarterly

H.J. Garcia Early College High School

By: Paola Cerda Welcome, Mr. Iznaola to Hector J. García Early College. We are so excited to have you here, and we are ready to start working alongside you. We are ready for a year full of change, and getting to know each other. Although the change might be hard, it is nothing you can’t handle. We look forward to continue excelling in every way possible like we always have done. Once again, we are ready to continue thriv-ing with you as a leader.

Who is Mr.Iznaola?

Mr. Jose Eduardo Iznaola was born in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. He is the eldest son of Mr. Jose Iznao-la (+) and Mrs. Amelia

Sepulveda. He graduated with a BBA in Marketing (1992) and obtained an MBA in International Trade (1996) both from Texas A&M International Univer-sity. In 1991 he got the op-portunity to become a P.E. teacher in Mexico, and later, in 2003, he became a Finance teacher in the United States. Mr. Iznaola has served the community of Laredo for the last 15 years not only as a teach-er, but as a testing coor-dinator and an assistant principal as well. He holds teach-ing and principal certifi-cations by the state of Texas. Educating is his mission and learning his passion. In his own words, “Learning ena-bles you to serve others;

it helps you give direction to projects and allows you to develop ideas. It allows you to be the best human being that you can possibly be.”

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Hosting UIL 2

Study Tips 101 2

Blackboard 3

TAMIU Places 3

Texas Senator Cruz 4

Music & Speech 4

Daily Dose 5

Ways to Help Cont. 5

Reviews 6-7

Words to… 8

THE PHOENIX PROUDLY WELCOME...

WAYS TO HELP YOUR COMMUNITY

By: Naydine De La Fuente As a student at GECHS, we are required to graduate high school with a minimum of 500 com-munity service hours. It is a smart move to start earning hours your first year of high school so you don't have to worry about it at the last minute. There are many opportuni-ties presented to students to work towards achieving the amount of hours necessary in school and in the

community. One of the many places to help out our community is Lare-do’s Bethany House for the less fortunate and gift those who are less fortunate and donate the much need-ed items, like toiletries. As a student, we can also go to the retirement homes that are local like the Retama Manor Nurs-ing Center or Regent Care Center and give of our time to help or even just time to spend with the elderly. Continued on pg. 5

Mr. Iznaola

Laredo’s Bethany House

By: Jacquelin Bautista The University Interscholastic League is an academic competition that goes on throughout the school year at the different high schools. Students are al-lowed to compete in many categories that may cater to something they like or enjoy studying. There are some categories that are held on Fridays, but the majority are on Saturdays because of how long they take or how long it takes for the tests to be graded.

This past month, our very own, Garcia Early College High School hosted

a UIL invitational meet. Although the school is quite small, together with TA-MIU, we accommodated everyone.

All in all, the meet was successful and GECHS was able to host a great UIL meet. There may have been a couple mis-understandings but the GECHS team was able to resolve all issues quickly and calm-ly which was appreciated by all the schools that came to compete.

By: Andrea Ortiz

Everyone has their own way of doing things, and studying is one of them. Any course of action you choose to take while studying is never wrong, but here are some methods/tips to help you get started:

1. Remove any distractions! This in-cludes technology, distracting at-mospheres, and friends. Technology can help you study but do not let it control your efficiency of doing it. Distracting atmospheres and friends can sometimes be a hindrance to your productivity.

2. Study at different times of the day. Do 10 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes at noon, and 30 minutes in the evening. In total, you’d have an hour accumulated throughout the day without it feeling like an hour.

3. For exams, always create a study guide. Start with keywords and con-cepts that will most likely be the majority on the test. Secondly, work

your way down from the hardest topics to the simplest.

4. When preparing for an exam don’t be afraid to ask for help if you don’t understand something. Go to the tutoring center, ask a friend/teacher/professor, or find other outside re-sources.

5. Before an exam make sure to have what you might need for the occa-sion. A good night's rest and materi-als such as a bubble in sheet, blue/green book, laptop etc.

2

THE PHOENIX HOST U.I.L.

Alexia Palacios and Samantha Alvarado

GECHS Cafeteria full of UIL participants

STUDY TIPS 101

GETTING TO KNOW BLACKBOARD, PART II

3

By: Jacquelin Bautista

Now moving on from the main page you have tabs at the top of the page which are more links you should be aware of. At the top the first tab is “My Institution” which is the main page that I have al-ready talked about. Next to it is “Student Support” which are lots of links for services and resources that are available to all TAMIU students. The third tab from the left is “Killam Library” which has many different sections all per-taining to the library. It gives you the hours it is opened, loan periods, their resources, etc. It even has direct links to other re-sources that are available to you. The last tab is named “Community” this is just more specifications on or-ganizations. Either the ones pertaining to you or a cata-log to see which one you find interesting.

Let’s get into how a class is page is set up. On the left hand side you have the course menu which has different tabs to show dif-

ferent things. The basic course menu has the sylla-bus and content tabs first. The “Syllabus” tab of course only includes the syllabus of the course. The content is where all the assignments, tests, quizzes, and links you need for the class are. Some professors will separate it into files or may just have a all the things without any separa-tion. In the next section you have announcements, calendar, and course mes-sages. “Course Messag-es” is the tab that allows you to email your fellow peers and professors. Alt-hough we don’t really need this feature because we know all of our classmates, but it is useful when we begin to take university classes with university stu-dents. The others are pretty self explanatory as the title is what it is. In the last sec-tion you have “My Grades”, “Student Re-sources”, and My Bookstore.” Which are also self explanatory, but in “My Bookstore” you can see all the books you need for your classes.

The blackboard

app is quite useful for on the go. It is not as detailed as the website but it is quite useful for on the go. The app only has a couple of different tabs that are: Ac-tivity stream, courses, or-ganizations, grades, due dates, and settings. They each have their own fea-tures but the most im-portant is courses because you can see everything pertaining to each class.

Blackboard App Home Page

By: Elisama Mancillas

Are you ever in a hurry to print? Well then, the SkyLab is the perfect place for this. The Sky Lab is located on the second floor of the student center. In the Sky Lab you have access to computers and printers. This means that you are able to go there to work on your assign-ment, print an essay, or watch a YouTube

video. There is no requirement for an appoint-ment. You just walk in and take a seat. There are approxi-mately 120 computers in the Sky Lab, so

the chances of there being no computers available are slim to none. Plus, all TAMIU students are given 500 free printing pages per semester. So just remember, if you are ever in a hurry to print an assignment or work online and you don’t have access to a laptop or computer, swing by the SkyLab and use one of the many available accommodations. Their time is suitable for the Garcia Early College High School schedule we up-hold. If you don’t have time during the week and you need to go to complete any neces-sary work, they are available for you. Their hours are: Monday - Thursday 7:30 am - 12:00 am Friday 7:30 am - 5:00 am Saturday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm Sunday 12:00 pm - 12:am

TAMIU, PLACES TO KNOW ABOUT: SKYLAB

A LOOK AT TEXAS STATE SENATOR, TED CRUZ

By: Danna Moreno

Senator Rafael

“Ted” Cruz, defeated

Robert “Beto” O’Rourke

in the race for senator of

Texas. “This was an elec-

tion about hope and about

the future, and the people

of Texas rendered a ver-

dict that we want a future

with more jobs and more

security and more free-

dom,” Ted Cruz said

while on his campaign

trail.

Cruz recently

came to TAMIU to rally

support from the Repub-

lican and conservative

democrats in Laredo.

During his ral-

ly, he spoke of his rela-

tionship with Donald

Trump and his role in

influencing the current

administration. His main

campaign strategy this

year was to promote that

relationship and bash

Democratic Competitor

Beto O’Rourke.

MUSIC THEORY & SPEECH AT THE UNIVERSITY

By: Isabelle Burton

Music Theory and

Speech are two classes

taken by the sophomores at

GECHS. Both classes are

enjoyable and easy to un-

derstand.

Music Theory is a

class about music history

and how it developed over

the years. The class specifi-

cally covers American mu-

sic during the eras from the

crooners to the ’70s. Music

Theory swiftly goes

through the material so you

can understand and you

listen to the songs present-

ed in each lesson to also

understand it. Overall,

music theory is an easy

course which is fun and

exciting to take.

When it comes to

speech, it does require

more academic effort.

Speech is the other class

required during one’s soph-

omores year.

The university’s

speech class requires you to

write and give presenta-

tions using rhetorical de-

vices. You will have a

chance to go in front of the

class with an organized

speech and present it. The

class is easy if you don’t

have a difficult time talking

in front of people.

The class usually

consists of making speech-

es and constructing them

within a time limit; you

will also have related activ-

ities dealing with public

speaking.

Both courses are

taken in either semester of

your sophomore year and

are fun and simple to take.

4

Robert “Beto” O’Rourke

Texas Senator, Ted Curz

By: Denise Martinez

Welcome back to your Daily Dose

Of Denise. Today we’ll go over Black Fri-

day statistics from the 2018 consumers,

how climate changes affect living condi-

tions, and a special treat in the awesome

new Cyber Monday starring the company,

Apple.

To begin with, in 2017 sales were

seen to have dropped when compared to

their 2016 sales by four percent based on

TheBalance.com which is a great online

source that keeps an eye on the U.S. econo-

my. It is with great pleasure to say that

sales have increased this year as well as

employment for the Black Friday sale. Ac-

cording to their online statistics, there was

a “4.3 percent increase, and money wise, in

2017 shoppers spent 682.0 billion dollars in

total, while this year shoppers spent 717.5

billion dollars.” This is definitely helpful

for the American economy.

On our second topic, based on

bbc.com news, the Eastern coast of Bangla-

desh is experiencing a spike in miscarriag-

es. According to an expert from BBC

News, the land “is arduous: in the dry sea-

son, the narrow track leads into a swamp,

and in rainy season, into the sea. The vil-

lage itself is not much more than a mound

of mud with a few shacks.” As climate

changes, there are all sorts of consequences

that come from these weather changes,

from the dry season causing trouble for

crop growth, to the wet season that has

their rivers overflowing into their homes

and even having the sea levels rise, causing

fresh water rivers and soil to get contami-

nated. This causes health risks in the con-

sumption of this water, additionally to cre-

ating problems in the future crops, as crops

do badly if salt were to contaminate soil.

And to end on a good note, the

well promised treat, a Cyber Monday sell

on Apple products! While this means it's a

great benefit for consumers, it just means

that there was a big UH-OH in the industry.

As Forbes.com emphasized, based on the

stocks, Apple is currently number “four,

having only -4.49 and a low of 172.11.”

DAILY DOSE OF TRIPLE D’S

5

WAYS TO HELP YOUR COMMUNITY, CONT...

Next, you can go

to the animal shelters like

LAPS or Laredo Animal

Care Facility and donate

food, toys, and towels for

the dogs and cats that are

in need. You can also play

with these animals to get

them out for a bit of fun!

The easiest way

to earn community service

hours is by participating in

school fundraisers and

events. For instance, the

can food drive, toiletry

drives, Blood drive, and

also donating for events

like UIL.

So keep your

eyes open and

acknowledge the many

opportunities in your com-

munity to help you reach

your goal of 500 hours or

more and to create a better

person of oneself.

PODCAST REVIEW: THE DAILY

ADAPTATIONS ON SCREEN: THE DUFF

By: Jazmine Rivera The film that was very famous last year, The DUFF by Kody Keplinger, was primarily a novel. The film and the novel are similar and dif-ferent in several ways. The main characters in the novel are Wesley and Bianca, but in the movie Madison (Bella Thorne) is a vital love interest to Wesley as well. It was much more relatable in the novel since Keplinger used Bianca to describe the hardships of a teenage girl going through some conflicts in high school. The fans were not so pleased with this book to film adaptation with the major differences in the themes, characters and minor details. There are things that are not similar at all, for example, Madison is not in the novel or even men-tioned. The fact that Bianca is very obsessed over Toby, her crush, is

not so true to the extent that it is displayed in a desperate way in the film as it is in the novel. An-other big difference is that the relationship be-tween Bianca and Wesley was described much deeper and emotional in the novel. There is more focus on how they use each other to distract themselves from their problems. Also, the whole idea of social me-dia with the ridiculous video of Bianca embar-rassing herself wasn’t even mentioned in the novel. Similarities begin when the concept of the term “DUFF” is de-scribed to mean the least attractive person in a group of people. This term was first used by Wesley in both the film and book. Bianca’s witty attitude in both of these were very similar in the way where she was first self conscious then didn’t care about what others think.

Overall, there are too many differences from the book and movie to recommend this film to go see if you have read the novel first. Seeing the film after reading the story will most likely ruin the expe-rience of seeing the mov-ie as more of a comedy than a more serious theme as it is portrayed in the novel itself.

6

By: Valeria Perez Time is something that we have so little of. Work is something we have so much of. The Daily is a podcast by The New Y ork Times where host Mi-chael Barbaro reports about a topic relevant on that day. The podcast is broadcasted every day excluding weekends for about 20-25 minutes. The podcast gives a detailed re-search on the chosen topic of the day and

goes into depth. It even goes as far as giving interviews to better understand the topic. This is a great way to hear the news with the busy schedules and lives that most people have. It is easy to un-derstand rather than trying to figure out what and why certain events are happening. It shows us im-portant things that are happening in our coun-try, that we might turn a bat eye on by being misinformed or not informed at all.

Check it out when you get the chance.

By: Eric Cedillo

Genre: Drama/Sport

The movie stays

very true to the genre

with its dramatic scenes

on and off the boxing

ring.

The movie

Creed II, has many good

characteristics about it

that make it a very artis-

tic continuation of the

previous Rocky movies.

The movie has

incredible scenes of

Adonis Johnson (Creed)

preparing and training

himself with Rocky Bal-

boa, to fight Ivan

Dragos’ son in a match

that could determine the

real boxing champion of

the world.

A well thought

out characteristic about

this movie is the devel-

opment of Adonis, from

being a cocky fighter to

becoming a humble

hardworking fighter in

order to face the chal-

lenge of Drago.

One weak point

about the film is that it

requires the viewers to

watch previous Rocky

films in order to under-

stand what is happening

and who is who.

Overall, the film

is a great artistic piece

that correlates very well

to the other Rocky mov-

ies, and it is one that

must be watched.

A LOOK AT FOREIGN DRAMAS

MOVIE REVIEW: CREED II

7

By: Kassandra Rodriguez

W to Worlds

Genre: romance, fantasy,

drama, (slight) thriller

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:

This show is also

known as Two Worlds or

Two worlds apart. Oh Yeon

Joo (Han Hyo Joo) is a sec-

ond-year cardiothoracic

resident doctor. Her father,

a famous comic book crea-

tor, suddenly disappears one

day and then Yeon Joo her-

self is dragged into her fa-

thers tablet by a hand cov-

ered in blood and taken into

the webcomic. Kang Chul

(Lee Jong Suk) is a former

Olympic gold medalist in

shooting and a self-made

millionaire. Their worlds

are soon intertwined, and a

romance takes place be-

tween the two as they both

try to stop the killer and

find Oh Yeon-Joo’s father.

Personal Comment:

The drama has a

good plot as well as good

characters. The plot was

very different from many

dramas I’ve seen before as

it focuses on a romance

between a comic book char-

acter and a surgeon in the

real-life world including

some mystery elements.

There are some comedic

elements when the female

protagonist tries to get out

of the comic and the only

way out is to shock the male

protagonist. The pace of the

drama isn’t rushed and it

isn’t dragged as the pro-

gress between the storyline

and between the two leads.

The drama has some reason-

able twists that ties in beau-

tifully with no questions left

unanswered. The only prob-

lem with the show is that

the female character is a

smart beautiful surgeon who

acts like a teenage girl in

love. As for the male lead

his approach to everything

is truth yet a bit to harsh

although it makes sense.

However, it is undeniable

that between the leads they

have great chemistry.

Words to remember...

“May Light always surround you;

Hope kindle and rebound you.

May your Hurts turn to Healing;

Your Heart embrace Feeling.

May Wounds become Wisdom;

Every Kindness a Prism.

May Laughter infect you;

Your Passion resurrect you.

May Goodness inspire

your Deepest Desires.

Through all that you Reach For,

May your arms Never Tire.”

― D. Simone