The School Newspaper of Southwest Career and Technical Academy.

Southwest Shadow

Southwest Shadow

Southwest Shadow

At the AASA’s recent club meeting, members engaged in many activities to introduce each other. Sophomore Devin Uclaray attended the clubs meeting for the first time. “This is such a promising club, we made origami and introduced each other,” Uclaray said. “I will definitely be going to the next meeting to see what other fun activities we do.”

AASA starts meeting officially

Amelia Castellanos, Staff Writer
February 13, 2024
Meetings are from 1:45 to 3:00.
Placing the final decoration down onto the table, senior Kai Parker finishes her tablescape. Last year, Hospitality students had the opportunity to employ practical skills that they would use in the industry, but due to the usage of substitutes to teach the class, that option was taken away from them this year. “I didn’t even know that they were getting rid of the program, I thought that they were phasing it out,” senior Kai Parker said. “I do think that it’s a good thing, though. The course load, it didn’t feel like it was at a high school level, it felt like it was at a middle school level. Culinary by itself was great, but Hospitality alongside it just wasn’t that good.”

HOSPITALITY PROGRAM ELIMINATED FROM COURSE OFFERINGS

Adrienne Vera-Perez, Staff Writer
February 12, 2024
Hospitality classes removed in 2024-2025 school year among other course catalog changes.
Squinting in the sun, sophomore Hunter Rhee shields his eyes from the bright UV rays. July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded in Las Vegas. “The summer is the time when people travel, and if the heat’s here they’re not going to enjoy their time,” sophomore Leonardo Chavez said. “It’s been getting really bad to the point where you get scared to sit down on leather.”

Las Vegas’ Extreme Weather Raises Economic Concerns

Ava Torres, Staff Writer
February 9, 2024
The economic future of Las Vegas is uncertain.
Displaying the implementation of the new salary on a table, CCSD is working to honor the agreements made in the December 2023 contract. The contract fulfills most of the demands made by CCEA. “We have never seen anything like this. I really think its thanks to CCEA and all the work they did up in the legislature for education,” Computer Science teacher Dana Cuni said. “The underserved populations in the district are suffering the most so hopefully this is a big enough package to say “Maybe I wasn’t going to be a teacher but maybe I would like to try it.” because the pay will be big enough.”

CCEA, CCSD Reach Historic Contract Agreement

Jianna Aganon
February 7, 2024
The contract will be fully effective within the next two years with an increase of 10 percent this year and an increase of eight percent in 2025.
Preparing for King and Queen of Hearts, the Student Council (StuCo) invites different clubs and encourages them all to participate. The King and Queen of Hearts fundraiser held in February is an annual fundraiser to raise money for the American Heart Association.  “It’s for a good cause and since it’s like a competition type thing, I think it raises spirits and gets people more active in school and to participate more,” Vice President of Design Academy Emilio Garcia said. “Some of the challenges were figuring out the logistics and getting smaller clubs to participate and once we get to week two and three getting donations gets challenging.”

STUCO TO HOST ‘KING AND QUEEN OF HEARTS’ FUNDRAISER

Joy Ryan, Staff Writer
February 5, 2024
During the week of Feb. 5, anyone can donate money to representatives wearing a sash and holding a bucket.
After postponing the form for three months, the FAFSA has now become available during periods of time as they monitor site performance. Changes have been made to allow its users to seamlessly apply financial aid for higher education. “I’ve known about FAFSA since last year because my sister was applying to college,” senior Shantell Hunt said. “Honestly, I thought the application was weird because your parents had to set up their own account. When my sister did hers last year, she had to ask my dad a lot of questions about his finances but this year there weren’t too many questions about it.”

New FAFSA Available Periodically

Yaritzza Montenegro, Copy Editor
January 22, 2024
FAFSA is only available for periods of time as the company “monitors site performance."
While walking across campus on the new sidewalks, students make their way to class. For several years, students walked along the dirt and stones, causing them to violate an institutional rule. “[The] rule is for everyone to use the sidewalks because they are level and provide better footing when compared to the stones,” Assistant Principal Cameron Roehm. “The rule is there for safety reasons and I would hope students would want to keep their shoes cleaner by not tracking through the stones.”

NEW CROSSWALKS ON CAMPUS

Joy Ryan, Staff Writer
January 19, 2024
Students are greeted with new crosswalks when entering campus.
This sign hangs above the coin donation jars. The jars will be stored in the front office in A building. “If it doesn’t go well, or if people don’t participate it’s going to be disappointing because of everything that we’re making,” student council member Tyler Moran said. “If people don’t participate and help fundraise, our prom may not be as good as they expect.”

Class of 2026 Stuco Hosts Penny Wars Fundraiser

Zelina Panissidi, Staff Writer
January 8, 2024
The event will be held from January 8th-19th.
Walking onto campus, students enter through designated student entrances. Administration observes the students walking in to ensure lanyards are being worn, and to ensure who is coming onto the campus. “Having admin or security monitors watching us as we come in definitely makes me feel safe,” senior Gavin Cabrera said. “They make sure people cannot sneak onto campus and that students are wearing their lanyards which overall improves the safety of our campus.”

Enforcing New Campus Safety Procedures

Ava Julian, Staff Writer
January 8, 2024
Learn about the new safety procedures being enforced on campus.
As Hospitality III students work on their “Managing Stress” project, a short presentation on the benefits of stress relieving techniques, substitute teacher Collin Dodos works on grading assignments. Dodos is the third substitute brought on to teach the hospitality class this semester. “I wouldn’t say that I took this course because I was interested in hospitality as a topic, but because it was a job that was offered to me,” Dodos said. “I do get how it could be hard on the students, but there’s not much that can be done in this situation. I’m trying to make the best out of it and to be positive in the classroom.”

Lack of Hospitality Teacher Creates Gap in Staffing

Adrienne Vera-Perez, Staff Writer
January 8, 2024
Long-term substitutes needed to fill vacant position in Culinary and Hospitality program.
Helping create decorations for the Meteorology Association’s Winter Fest booth, junior Brian Price prepares popsicle sticks to add to his club’s banner. Over the last couple of months, BSU has been in close contact with club leaders to help organize their activities for the event. “I’m really excited for Winter Fest, it’s gonna be super awesome with all the fun activities that are going to be going on,” Price said. “It’s gonna be really cool getting to talk with all the other student-run clubs that are gonna be at the event, and I want to hear how other clubs are going to be growing.”

BSU, STUCO set to host rescheduled Winter Fest

Adrienne Vera-Perez, Staff Writer
January 4, 2024
The event will take place on Friday, January 5 from PM.
Creating homemade holiday ornaments, club members reach for the materials needed to make their artwork. The members are making these ornaments to celebrate the upcoming winter season. “A lot of Mexicans, which is where my family is from, tend to make things from scratch,” club member Rebeka Tzintzun said. “That’s what we’re doing with the ornaments, making them from scratch, and scooping them.”

Estudiantes Unidos forms new space for Hispanic students

Zelina Panissidi, Staff Writer
January 4, 2024
The club is to meet every first and third Thursday, alternating from rooms E128 and E106/107.