"I think the teachers help us a lot because they told us what we need to know for the real test." -Cristian Perez, 10

"Yes, because I reviewed stuff I haven't done in along time." -Noemi Bianchi,10

"For me it gave me a lot of help reviewing important stuff that I had forgotten." -Laura Arreola, 10

"Yes, because it reminded me of stuff from last year." -David Contreras, 10

BY GABRIELA PADILLA AND DEANNA CENTENO

"I want a big gigantic teddy bear that I can sleep with." - Eric Plaza, 9

"I want a valentine card from a secret admirer." -Zenon Ramirez, 12

Going into the 2009 College Football season, there were many expectations for an exciting year, and the season had many twist and turns that nobody were able to see coming. Some of those twists and turns included relatively unknown teams that came from nowhere to be in the Top 25, teams with high expectations who completely underperformed, one of the closest Heisman races in the 75 year history of the Heisman Trophy, and dramatic coaching changes that left many fans guessing. 

Freshman Academy Secretary Jennifer Franco: I want the Saints to win because they have never won a superbowl before, but I believe the Colts are going to win.

Senior Marc Mendoza: Colts, because of Peyton Manning. He’s a good clutch and a good quarter back!

Junior Jennifer Garcia: I want the Saints to win

Senior David Rico: Saints. They’ve been playing good all year. They have the right tools on defense and offense.

Junior Deandre Dickson: Colts! Because they’re better than the Saints!

New semester, new classes! WUHS is offering several new classes for students this year. They include English 11 AP,  Biology AP, AP Art History,and English 12 Honors. Our school offers English 11 AP to allow more students to earn college credits and elevate their GPA. It helps students by it focusing on writing skills that will help students in college. It also challenges students to read critically. The class teaches the students how rhetoric is used in non-fiction and how to apply it in their own writing.

“This class helps students in the future because they can learn valuable writing and reading strategies that could be used in college and later on in life,” English 11 AP Instructor Toshia Blunt said.

“I wanted to be in English 11 AP because I enjoy to write and I love to read. I like this class because it is something that I am really interested and Mrs. Blunt is a very fun teacher to have,” Junior Jasmine Hines said.

“English 11 AP will challenge me and will help my writing overall. I like this class because it is really willing to make me learn, which helps and it is challenging enough to be fun,” Savannah Nielsen said. 

AP Biology  was integrated for two reasons. The first was to expand our AP program and the second was to give our Health Institute students a challenging senior class. This class gives students the chance to earn college credits and expand their knowledge on their field. Students learn topic like genetics, evolution, plants, and cells in AP Biology.

“It helps students in their future because they may earn credits for college and learn about life,” AP Biology Stephanie Chavez says.

“I’m in AP Biology  because I’m planning to start majoring in chemistry, need another science class, and AP= college credit. I like this class because I like doing experiments and learning about life,” said Bryan Chow.

“I joined AP Biology because I like biology and it looks good on a application. Biology AP challenges me and I also like labs,” Amber Aguilar said.

Art history is an AP class that will help students prepare for art history in college or possible get college credits if they pass the AP exam in May. Art history helps students recognize the history of us through the arts we have created. The class teaches what art is, art vocabulary, and art in the context of when it was created. This class helps the students tremendously because it teach them critical thinking skills and they learn about a subject that relates to almost every area of study.

“I joined the Art History class because I have always been really interested in art and it’s history. I like this class because the way it’s set up so we look at all the different pieces of art and discuses them. It’s very interesting,” Senior Nikki Markarian said.

“I chose to take this class because I don’t know a thing about the history of my talent and I need to know it to survive in my future career. I like this class because I am able to learn where, when, and how the history of art was built. I’m able to learn a wide range of art from many different resions of the world,” Money Sovannasack said.

Our school offers English 12 Honors to better prepare students who are interested in the health and science field for college and their career. This class teaches students how to communicate their research, lad results, or experiment results affective. This class helps the students organize and format their arguments or results in a professional and academic manner. This class will definitely help students in the future as they continue with an education that is focused on health and science. It is essential that they know how to communicate with their colleagues, bosses, or future patients.

“This year our goal is to win league and get ready to compete for a valley championship,” Head Coach Tony Petersen said.

Going into league, Sierra is looking to be their toughest competition. Junior Rance Johnson suggests that the young team should work on becoming a team more than anything.

“We should start to bond as team,” Johnson said. Johnson sets the example by coming out every night and practicing hard.

JV Boys Soccer

Varsity Girls Soccer

Courtesy of Google Images

January 10th. The day before Washington Union went back to school.  But only a few know it was also a day that will go down in television history. It is the day the Simpsons celebrated their 20 year anniversary, and to honor the shows success, a one hour special showed during Fox’s Sunday Animation Domination, documenting the Simpsons’ creation and success.

The one hour documentary was directed by Morgan Spurlock, known for his popular documentary Super Size Me, and his TV show 30 Days. The special was titled The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3D on Ice. This, however, was a joke in its self since only the last minute of the show featured any amount of third dimensional ice skating.

The Simpsons was created by Matt Groening, which he had been planning out since his childhood. All of the shows characters are named after streets in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. As for the main characters of the show, every character is based off of his family, first names included. The only exception was the character based on him, which he renamed Bart. Along with this, the character Krusty the Clown was based on a clown he was a fan of, named Rusty.

The Simpsons started when producer Jim Brooks decided to run cartoon shorts on a tv show called The Tracey Ullman Show. He chose Matt Greoning for a comic strip he had made, and after creating the Simpsons specifically for the show, it became popular. It was then that producers decided to run it’s own series about the Simpson family, and was given a green light by Fox to air 13 episodes.

The Simpson’s premiere was the highest rated show in the history of Fox, and even beat The Cosby Show, which was at the time the number one show in the country. Fans amassed not only in the U.S. but all over the world. It inspired many of the other cartoons people today say are more entertaining than The Simpsons, such as South Park and Family Guy. The Simpsons also spurred much controversy as it poked fun at many cultures and beliefs, as well as featuring a kid who backed talks his parents as one of the main characters.

However, today the show is considered far more timid than the other mentioned cartoons. With the release of a movie in 2007, and now finishing their 20th season, the Simpsons have gained many awards, including 26 Emmys, 26 Ammys, 6 Genesis wards, 6 Writers Guild of America awards, 4 People’s Choice awards, 2 British Comedy awards, 2 Kid’s Choice awards, a Golden Reel and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The show is speculated to be one of the most popular shows in television history.