The School Newspaper of Southwest Career and Technical Academy.

Southwest Shadow

Southwest Shadow

Southwest Shadow
Celebrating their victory, last year’s Professional Academy (PA) cheer as they were announced to be the winners. “I came to this school last year, so I never got to go to the flag football games of years prior,” STUCO adviser Brandon Lafountain said. “I’m pretty excited now that I’ll be able to, because it’s like a tradition at the school.”

Flag Football Returns for PA/DA Game

Adrienne Vera-Perez, Staff Writer
October 11, 2023
Students participate in yearly school tradition.
Sophomore Jadyss Tim concentrates on his chromebook as his World History teacher, Trey Takahashi-Brummer goes over a lesson. Class work has become increasingly digital since the introduction of electronic devices to 90 percent of middle school and high schoolers in 2021. “I’d rather take my test online,” Tim said. “I think it’s good for the environment since we’re using devices we wouldn’t have to waste paper.”

Digital PSAT To Be Administered Nationwide

Ava Torres and Joy Ryan
October 10, 2023
PSAT will be taken on Chromebooks for grades 8/9, 10, and 11.
Student Council members are putting the finishing touches on decorations for the homecoming dance. They have been preparing for this occasion and thinking of ways to surprise the guests. “For this year's homecoming, we’ve been a lot more creative with decorations, advertisements, and overall just trying to make it fun and unforgettable for students,” student council member Ysabella Felix said. “We were also able to incorporate the theme a lot more into our planning, so I hope that adds to everyone’s experience.”

Peter Pan themed homecoming tickets selling quickly

Hunter Rhee and Amelia Castellanos
October 10, 2023
Homecoming plans to be unforgettable this year.
In the video production studio, students are creating videos using tripods and their phones to practice essential videography skills. They have worked for a while now to create their videos and make them as effective as possible. “Some students have decided to do a PSA about keeping our campus clean, or about drugs and their bad effects, so it’s a wide gamut of different subjects,” Video Production teacher Ernesto Zita said.

Video Production I Students Work on PSAs

Hunter Rhee, Staff Writer
October 5, 2023
Video Production I students are working on their first video project. They are working diligently to get their work up to standard.
Rehearsing his lines for the school announcements, Atmospheric Specialist Philipos Alebachew prepares to record the weather reports for the week. The club prepared a slide as a visual for students to further understand the weather report. “I hope people will get more educated about climatology and meteorology,” Alebachew said. “Then they can spread the good word of nature.”

New Meteorology Club Discusses the Weather

Zelina Panissidi, Staff Writer
October 2, 2023
The club is to meet every other Wednesday from 2:00-3:00 in H211
Diligently working, juniors Adyen Ionescu and Rayan Awad collaborate to improve their writing. Students use this class to develop their speech and debate skills. “I’m a novice and everything is still new and intimidating to me,” Ionescu said. “So far I like how I have this sort of creative freedom. I’ve had classmates that have noted that I’m really good with speech, but only being restricted to a handful of topics just for an assignment isn’t enough for me. I’m participating in the October tournament, and I’m both excited and nervous about it as well. I can’t wait to see if that freedom pays off in the end and truly see my speaking capabilities.”

SPEECH, DEBATE CLUB EXPANDS INTO COURSE

Joy Ryan, Staff Writer
September 26, 2023
This year Speech and Debate is not only a club, but an elective.
Working solo, Jessica Kelly teaches a lesson covering racial injustices. Kelly has been keeping her students engaged through slideshows and weekly discussions. “I'm really into teaching this class. And I just want to make it a culture at this school,” Kelly said. “Everybody should want to take this class, regardless of what they look like, or their ethnic background. I feel like everybody needs to hear this important information.”

Teacher’s Goal of Offering Ethnic Studies Course Materializes

Daphney Garcia-Hatton, Staff Writer
September 25, 2023
New Nevada State University Ethnic Studies 101 course makes its first appearance to our curriculum, here at SWCTA.
Attempting to cool down an Engineering classroom, senior Brandon Pecayo adjusts a small portable fan. Over the past month, the F building has been one of the places on campus that has been the most affected by the AC breakdowns. “The fan in the room definitely makes it more comfortable to work,” Pecayo said. “I like being able to do my work in comfort instead of having to sit in the heat.”

Campus Air Conditioning Receives Much Needed Repair

Adrienne Vera-Perez, Staff Writer
September 21, 2023
Classrooms cooled down after a month of abnormally hot temperatures.
Being new to the school and its policies, freshman Cameron Kefale signs out of the class to use the restroom. He has found these rules to be helpful with shaping school safety. “I think that the bathroom policies are actually pretty good,” Kefale said. “Let's say someone does something bad while they are gone, this rule helps them [staff] know who was in the bathroom at that time.”

Updated District-wide Bathroom Procedures, Technology Set in Place

Amelia Castellanos, Staff Writer
September 21, 2023
Staff has recently added regulations regarding bathroom usage for students.
BREAKING NEWS: LAURA PENROD NAMED NEVADA TEACHER OF THE YEAR

BREAKING NEWS: LAURA PENROD NAMED NEVADA TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Ayma Malik, Editor in Chief
September 19, 2023
Laura Penrod is the Nevada State Teacher of the Year for 2024.
Placing another spoonful of pineapple on her plate, sophomore Sophia Vizcarra grabs lunch from the school’s salad bar. CCSD has been working hard to provide healthier food while still trying to appeal to students. “Honestly, [school lunch] is really good,” senior Angelina Diaz-Munoz said. “I like when they have the salad bar, I eat it every single time, and I really like the ranch that they serve.”

CCSD School Cafeterias Switch From Papa John’s to Domino’s Pizza

Ava Torres, Staff Writer
September 15, 2023
CCSD schools have a Domino’s Pizza test run to see student response
Parents and students were alerted at 6:23 a.m. that school was canceled due to "an unexpected number of licensed staff/teachers absent." There was less than 40 minutes before the school day began. “Waking up to constant notifications that school is canceled for today, thousands of thoughts started running through my head,” senior Aeron Pearson said. “‘When are they going to make this day up?’ ‘What about my assignments?’ ‘What about HOSA today?’”

BREAKING NEWS: School canceled due to teacher, staff shortage

Southwest Shadow, Editorial Board
September 12, 2023
A lack of teachers, support staff, and administration led to school being canceled for the day.
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