The School Newspaper of Southwest Career and Technical Academy.

Southwest Shadow

Southwest Shadow

Southwest Shadow
Rheyland Simon

Rheyland Simon, Staff Writer

Hey there! I’m Rheyland Simon, and this is my second year on the Southwest Shadow. If you see me around interviewing people or taking photos, don’t be afraid to say hi, I might have a couple spare snacks to share.

All content by Rheyland Simon
With his band The Red Pills, sophomore Aldrich Razon performs at last year’s Coyote Coachella. At the time, the band consisted mostly of seniors. “The Red Pills are currently down to three members currently in Southwest,” Razon said. “But we have talked about performing, so it’s highly likely that we’ll be performing. We’re going to be having a meeting tomorrow to discuss what songs we’re going to perform and practice those songs.”

Annual Coyote Coachella To Return

Rheyland Simon, Staff Writer
April 9, 2025
Coyote Coachella is coming to our school again on April 10 from 2 to 4 p.m., with students in our school showing their hidden musical talents.
Freshman Class Historian Angel Samson works on a poster promoting the event. She’s helped design posters for Student Council ever since she started the class last semester. “It’s based on Valentine’s Day,” Samson said. “It has more activities, but it’s still like the previous freshmen Thursdays we’ve done.”

Student Council Creates Freshmen Hearts Festival

Rheyland Simon, Writer
February 19, 2025

The Student Council (StuCo) has decided to rebrand the traditional freshmen Thursday event into a “Freshmen Hearts Festival” for February to embrace Valentine’s Day. The event will be held on...

Elijah Cruz drums for the Lohan School of Shaolin. The rest of the team lion danced to match his beat. “It’s cool to see so many lion dancers move when I hit the drum and at the speed I want them to move,” sophomore Elijah Ray Cruz said.

Heart of A Drummer: Meet Elijah Cruz

Rheyland Simon, Writer
February 5, 2025
Ever since he was nine years old, sophomore Elijah Cruz has been beating drums as loud as a lion’s heart.
Carefully arranging their gingerbread design, sophomore Ariana Bognot and her team are making sure that their design is to their standards. ”Because they’re gingerbread houses, everyone in the group needs to collaborate and agree on the design and assign tasks so everyone isn’t working on just one thing,” Bognot said. “For the baking part, it’s great for creativity because it’s mostly for looks since no one’s eating the gingerbread house.”

Culinary Students Rush To Create The Best Gingerbread House

Rheyland Simon, Staff Writer
December 19, 2024
Culinary II students participated in a decorating contest to see who could make the best gingerbread house.
A new way of starting the story of the Transformers. Rating: A Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

‘Transformers One’ Reignites the Franchise’s Spark

Rheyland Simon, Staff Writer
December 3, 2024
Transformers One is a fresh reintroduction to an iconic series.
“The HOSA blood drive is to help save lives in our SWCTA community,” senior Jason Ang said. “And it’s to help people that maybe don’t have a lot of blood they need to survive.”

HOSA Organizes First Blood Drive of the School Year

Rheyland Simon, Staff Writer
November 1, 2024

In partnership with Vitalant, HOSA will be hosting the first of their biannual blood drives tomorrow. The process will last around sixty minutes for all donors, and snacks will be provided while waiting.  “Donors...

Announcing future school events with interest, junior Selena Lay Hamilton is hosting the meeting for the audience. She hadn’t done this before, so she was trying her best and was very energetic. “I was very nervous,” Hamilton said. “But overall, I was excited and had a good time hosting.”

Coyote Congress Announces Upcoming Events

Rheyland Simon
October 22, 2024
The Coyote Congress meeting on October 1st announced new and upcoming events coming to Southwest, introduced clubs to newcomers, and more.
Scanning into her AP Human Geography class, sophomore Hareyna Tecle holds her ID up to the scanner. The scanners have been introduced in most classes since last Friday. “I feel like it’s productive,” sophomore Hareyna Tecle said. “It’s a really great idea; it’ll be a nice way for us to check in and for teachers to do attendance, more easily and more accurately.”

Administration Implements Attendance Scanners In Classrooms

Jon Escala and Rheyland Simon
October 9, 2024
Teachers are now using new attendance scanners, replacing the traditional way of taking attendance.