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Southwest Shadow
Southwest Shadow
Southwest Shadow
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School Operations Closed for Winter Break

Classes to resume on Jan. 5
Adrienne Vera-Perez, Editor-in-Chief
December 16, 2025
Ayma Malik

In observance of semester exams and Winter Break, the regular posting schedule and school operations will continue on Tuesday, January 5th. On behalf of the Southwest Shadow, we hope all of your exams go well, and enjoy your break!

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Construction continues at Little China Plaza, located west of Southwest CTA. The project moves toward its expected completion in late 2026. “It’s a cool opportunity to see and know more businesses, because there’s already a new Urban Matcha here,” senior Roman Maynigo said. “I just think [it’s amazing] of the practicality of [everything] in the area.
LITTLE CHINA PLAZA CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES NEXT TO CAMPUS
Presenting his topic, senior Simon Asfaw summarizes the facts and information from his research paper. Students in English 102 had two minutes to recap their topics. “It's okay to say, ‘um,’ and ‘uh,’ it’s not like a formal presentation,” English 102 teacher Amy Lutz said. “You get to take a little pride in what you've worked on for over a month of time and I think that is a good thing.”
English 102 Students Create Multimodal Presentations
Working hard in math class, senior Preston Schwartz solves a calculus problem. In order to reach the GPA cap and attain valedictorian status, he took rigorous courses and maintained his grades. “Someone that impacted me in my journey was my sister,” Schwartz said. “She also went to Southwest, and she supported me and gave me insights on how to do well and how to be successful.”
SWCTA To Replace Valedictorian Speech With Video
Working on a garment, senior Valentina Escobar adds ribbon trim to a train of a jacket. The project was meant for the Formula 1 fashion competition. “What I really love about FCCLA is the fact that I get to work within my program area, which is fashion,” Escobar said. “Fashion is my passion and it’s genuinely something I want to do after high school, so FCCLA has allowed me to develop my technical skills and become more creative.”
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SWCTA culinary students participate in a classroom lesson. Students in the program have spent months preparing for competitions like the National ProStart Invitationals. “We’ve put a lot of time into getting everything right, and we just want to do our best when we present,” senior Addison Marsh said. “It’s exciting to see everything come together.”
Culinary Seniors Prepare for National ProStart Invitationals
Finishing up a stitch, freshman Lana Salvic works on her quilt block. Students in Fibers I were each given personalized quilt pieces based on their skill level to ensure the project was completed on time. “The challenge was making unique quilt blocks for 32 to 24 students per class,” Fibers teacher Jennifer Gonzalez said. “I had to decide which student could handle which type of stitching for them to be the most successful, so it was very labor intensive. It took me five or six hours to prep for this project.”
Fibers I Students Quilting for Community