Seniors Prepare For Last Fashion Show

Seniors prepare for their last fashion show of the year. This time it’s for fun. No judges. No winner. No competition.

 

On May 25 seniors will hold their last fashion show. The show is neither a competition nor a contest; there is no winner and there are no judges. The event will take place in the South East High School auditorium during homeroom and is free of charge. The senior fashion show started last year and is expected to  continue as a tradition for future years.

The leadership senior cabinet is in charge of organizing the show along with their advisor Ms. Che, a Visual and Performing Arts Academy teacher at SEHS. Only senior girls and guys will attend and participate. Organizers expect to have about 15-20 people participate this year.

“There are things that we are improving this year to make it better than last year,” says Heidi Siguenza, Associated Student Body President (ASB) at SEHS. Siguenza also stated that she believes the show will be successful because they had a lot more people sign up than expected.

Senior class president Pauline Velazquez said, “Of course it’s going to be successful, everybody loves fashion shows.”

Many SEHS students are anxiously waiting for the fashion show which is only weeks away.

 “I’ve never gone to a fashion show at this school, so I can’t wait to see this one,” says Vianca Rodriguez, a junior at SEHS.

On May 5, leadership went to different homerooms to recruit people who wanted to sign up to participate in the upcoming fashion show. Everybody who signed up got accepted to participate and they will be modeling it in the same order that they signed up.

The senior girls will be modeling prom dresses while the senior guys model tuxedos by Ana Rosa, a local designer in South Gate.

“I’m so excited to see all the people on stage and what they’ll be wearing,” says Mariana Reinoso, a senior at SEHS.

For many seniors it is important to cherish these last events because these are memorable moments of high school. “I can’t believe this is one of the last senior events I am going to participate in,” says Marcos Lopez, a member of the senior cabinet.

What do students want to do before they die?

By Jazmin Tapia and Sally Vitela

 South East students speak of their own “bucket lists."

SEHS students share their idea for what they would like to do before they die. This is the ultimate question that many humans think about. Still some never think of it, while others think of this question daily.

For those who consider this question daily, “Carpe Diem” is the motto they live by. They hesitate to wonder what the future might be like, because they know anything can happen in a mere second.

Students at SEHS have far more interesting goals for their future than just achieving the obvious. “Before I die I want to take a vacation at the Maldives Islands,” said Erick Valdez, a junior at SEHS. The Maldives are some beautiful islands in the Indian Ocean.

Valdez is setting a high goal for himself in his own idealistic future and setting himself for excellence in his high school career.

Andrea Chavez, a junior said, “I want to be a Sumo Wrestler and make a big house for homeless people.” Both of Chavez’s ideas are inspiring. It’s surprising to some in California to hear that a high school student wants to be a Sumo Wrestler before their death. The fact that she wants to help homeless people is very caring and humanitarian to do so. Its not so often that one meets people who wonder what its like to be a Sumo Wrestler and willing to try it.

Blanca Siodia, a junior said, “I want to crowd surf before I die.” It could be something very simple for some, but for siordia it is a goal to achieve before her time runs out. Marianna Reynoso, a senior, said, “I want to bungee jump off a building before I’m gone.”

Students at South East dream to achieve what seems impossible for some, but possible for many.

 

Two Winners For South East Idol

On March 25 South East High School’s staff and students attended and voted for the 2010 South East Idol.
The time of the year finally came for SEHS to choose 2010’s South East Idol. The South East Idol winner is determined by the audience, applauses and excitement filled the auditorium.
The winner for 2010’s South East Idol was not one, but two students. Giselle Rivera, a sophomore, and John Belton, a junior, who performed “A Whole New World” were this years winners. It is the first time that SEHS has had two winners for South East Idol. “You have a great voice and John too,” said Ms. Vallens a teacher from the Visual and Performing Arts academy, one of the judges.
The judges had time to make their decision and reduced the number of 13 contestants to the top three finalists. The top three finalists were Sandy Navarro who performed “Sway”, Giselle Rivera and John Belton who performed the duet for “A Whole New World”, and Alejandra Gastelum who sang “Stand By Me”.
At the competition, the judges scored the contestants based on their performance and vocal quality and these six judges were Ms. Chavez, Ms. Ramirez, Ms. Mangiliman, Ms. Vallens, Mr. Orosco, and Ms. Barragan.
The event was held on Thursday, March 25 in the SEHS auditorium, at 6 p.m. The pre-sale tickets were $4 and $5 if purchased at the door on the day of the event. It was free for all SEHS employees.
“This year we have two groups of two people performing duets. We will also be having special guests of the winners from 2008 and 2009,” said Ms. Gragera, the choir director fo the Visual and Performing Arts Academy.
The winner of South East Idol for 2008, Krystle Gutierrez performed first and 2009’s winner, Ashley Bailon performed last, right before the judges made the decision at the end to pick the last three finalists.
Cristian Pelayo, a junior and Oscar Tranquilino, a senior at SEHS sang one of the duets: “Kryptonite”. John Belton and Giselle Rivera performed the second duet, which was Disney’s Aladdin theme song, “A Whole New World”.
On March 4 and 5 Gragera held auditions in room P100 during lunch and after school. Students auditioning were asked to sing a verse and chorus of the song they wished to present. The singers had a choice to perform individually, as a duet, or in a group. Their options were to sing acapella (which means without a track), with an instrument, or with a CD with the selected song.
One contestant Bryan Elias, a junior at SEHS, said, “Well, I feel nervous and nauseas every time I think about South East Idol, but every time I sing, all that doesn’t matter I just step inside the song that I am singing and I close my eyes and soon I’m in another world. I don’t know who will win, but what I do know is that everyone has a chance to win and I only wish the best for all of the contestants.”
After they auditioned Gragera elected 13 contestants that she thought they were able to fit the critiques. “I had a really good job with the auditions, so that’s why I had a really hard time making my decision,” said Gragera.

A Letter Wasn’t Enough

“A new Romantic film Dear John is about a soldier who falls in love with a college student and their struggle trying to make their relationship work while he is in the forces and the fear of losing her.”

The movie Dear John is a romance film that came out in theatres on February 5, 2010. According to The Hollywood Reporter website the movie is based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks who is also the best-selling author for “The Notebook”. This is a story about a 23 year-old Special Forces soldier named John Tyree (Channing Tatum) that falls in love with Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried).
Years into the relationship, John goes off to a mission for the forces and they stay in contact by sending each other love letters overseas. As time went by letters weren’t enough, Savannah fell in love with her neighbor Tim. In the next letter John receives, Savannah starts the letter with “Dear John” and tells him that she has gotten engaged with Tim. Now John tries to find a way to make Savannah happy even though it hurts him that she is with somebody else. John has to make a harsh decision on choosing his country or the love of his life.
“I think that movie will touch all the hearts of those with a sensitive touch,” said Blanca Siordia, a junior. Then she added, “Dear John and The Notebook are definitely tied for best romance because it’s the same author, of course it deserves it”. “I think the movie was sad and romantic at the same time, it was the best romantic movie I’ve ever seen,” said Jackie Antillon, a junior at SEHS.
According to the Box Office website, the romantic movie was number one to make $30,468,614 on the week it was released. Since the week the movie came out, it was a big hit. SEHS students are looking forward to watching it.

Return to Wonderland

 

“Ten years later little Alice is back to Wonderland and now she is 19. She continues her journey to find her destiny and stop the Red Queens reign of terror that overthrew her sister the White Queen. South East High School students share their thoughts and feelings on this adventurous upcoming movie.”

 

On March 5, 2010 Alice returns to “Wonderland”. According to the Disney website, the movie will be in a third dimensional version with interesting animated characters, directed by Tim Burton, an acclaimed director making the movie in his perspective. The movie was originally based on Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” classic fairytale novel. Now 19 year-old Alice returns to her fantasy world after 10 years.

Reuniting with all her childhood friends the White Rabbit, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, and of course, the Mad Hatter, she continues for her search in Wonderland.

This time she looks for new ways to stop the evil Red Queens reign of terror, which overthrew her sister the White Queen. The film has freaky looking characters, scary monsters, fantasy action, and intense music.Featuring Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen.

The previews, billboards, and famous actors have made this movie really popular so far. The movie is being advertised everywhere you go. ”I think that people are curious to see it because the previews were really trippy,” said Jerry Torres, a junior at SEHS. “I think that this movie is going to be [cool] because of all the animation and I think its going to be successful because Johnny Depp comes out and he’s a good actor,” said Josefina Anaya, a sophomore.

People everywhere are saying that this movie might make a lot of money when it releases because it contains a lot of intense scenes that may attract many teenagers.