The School Newspaper of Southwest Career and Technical Academy.

Southwest Shadow

Southwest Shadow

Southwest Shadow
Yaritzza Montenegro

Yaritzza Montenegro, Copy Editor

Hello, I’m Yaritzza and I’m the Copy Editor for our publication. I hope to help send out quality content for the our viewers to see and use any skills I have to the best of my abilities. Aside from journalism, my interests are reading prose fiction, writing, and sketching. I can’t wait to see the content produced for our newspaper.

All content by Yaritzza Montenegro
NEVADA: TRULY THE WORST STATE FOR EDUCATION?

NEVADA: TRULY THE WORST STATE FOR EDUCATION?

Jianna Aganon, Philipos Alebachew, Ethan Bull, Kylie Dacquel, Venice Jingco, Ayma Malik, Yaritzza Montenegro, Kalista Palarca, Kathryn Peterson, Kailie Sicolo, Shayna Migalang, Adrienne Vera-Perez, and Travis McGinnis
September 17, 2024
Is Nevada really the worst state for education?
Testing the powdered tea in the Enterprise area, one of the best matchas is determined.

Battle of the Matcha(s)

Jianna Aganon and Yaritzza Montenegro
August 25, 2024
Nine cafés were included in the rankings.
Image by Sara Svensson from Pixabay

Vice President Kamala Harris to Speak at Southwest CTA

Adrienne Vera-Perez and Yaritzza Montenegro
April 12, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris will be visiting Southwest CTA.
The Umbrellas release a moving, coming-of-age album.Rating: APhoto Credit: The Umbrellas

Avoid the rain with a buddy in ‘Fairweather Friend’

Yaritzza Montenegro, Copy Editor
March 30, 2024
“Fairweather Friend” is set to go on tour starting in West Hollywood and ending in Paris.
Responding to a high serve, senior Jayson Deguzman leaps just high enough to send the ball back into the other court.

Responding to a high serve, senior Jayson Deguzman leaps just high enough to send the ball back into the other court.

Soaring above the net, junior Jace Angeles reaches out to strike the ball before it reaches his side of the court.

[Photo] Coyote Olympics Day 2: Serbia holds the lead after second day

March 20, 2024

Soaring above the net, junior Jace Angeles reaches out to strike the ball before it reaches his side of the court.

Balling up his fist, senior Gabriel Villacrucis uses the proper serving form to launch the volleyball to his opponents side.

Balling up his fist, senior Gabriel Villacrucis uses the proper serving form to launch the volleyball to his opponents side.

Gathering for their board meeting, the CCSD Board of Trustees discusses the future of the school district’s leadership following Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara’s resignation. Jara has served in CCSD as the superintendent since 2018. “We have four new trustees that were appointed to the board that were non-voting members,” Computer Science teacher Dana Cuni said. “Most trustees are voted in by a public who may not know what's best for education, but these four professionals know the process. They've been in education, they have PhDs, and they know what we need, so I'm hoping they do their work to find the research, to hear what parents want, what students want, what teachers want, and use a hiring process to find a person who's a better fit than Jara was.” Screenshot from CCSD School Board Meeting

Jara’s Legacy: Impact on CCSD

Jianna Aganon and Yaritzza Montenegro
March 4, 2024
Former Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara left a dent in the history of CCSD.
After an approximately seven-hour drive to Reno, Nevada, Speech and Debate students anticipated to compete. The sudden news was revealed on March 1 in the afternoon. “The next plan of action is to have a snow day,” senior Ellie Lakatos said. “We are probably going to enjoy the weather a bit. However, as for the tournament I know that the Debate kids are disappointed as it will have to be rescheduled for another day or online. The debate students worked really hard and I hope they will have a chance to show all they know.”

BREAKING NEWS: Debate Portion of Speech, Debate State Competition Postponed

Yaritzza Montenegro, Copy Editor
March 2, 2024
Students competing in speech participated on March 1.
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."
‘Radical’ is a true story about the upbringing of Jose Urbina Lopez Elementary. Rating: AArt Courtesy of 3Pas Studios

‘Radical’ Will Leave You Speechless

Yaritzza Montenegro, Copy Editor
January 9, 2024
The true story of a teacher who was dedicated to the dreams of his students.
THIRST FOR URGENCY

THIRST FOR URGENCY

Ayma Malik, Ethan Bull, Jianna Aganon, Kalista Palarca, Kathryn Peterson, Travis McGinnis, and Yaritzza Montenegro
December 11, 2023

BREAKING NEWS: Mass shooting on UNLV campus

BREAKING NEWS: Mass shooting on UNLV campus

Yaritzza Montenegro and Ayma Malik
December 6, 2023
LVMPD determined “no further threat” at 1:34 p.m.
To encourage more students to eat breakfast, a rolling cart with bagged meals is available before school hours. On average, more than 27 percent of students ages 12 to 19 skip breakfast. “The CCSD Food department thought that some students might cut breakfast out of their daily diet for many reasons, one being the lack of time,” Food Service Manager Sisco Murillo said. “Having a sack lunch bag ready would help cut some of that time down and provide convenience.”

‘Fresh-and-Fast’ Breakfast Program starts

Yaritzza Montenegro, Copy Editor
November 9, 2023
Efforts made to combat skipping breakfast.
Combating student email access lockouts, password retrievals are happening in the library during English or Freshman Studies/Health classes. A week has passed since the initial lockout occurred. “We’re doing that [library retrievals] for two reasons,” Assistant Principal Donna Besser said. “One is to make sure that we are using a different system to log everyone in. Also, to ensure that everybody is getting reset. Right now some students that have been reset are saying that they weren’t reset so that they don’t have to do work in class. This is ensuring that everyone is being reset and no one has any excuse to not be logged in.”

Technology services partially return for student access

Jianna Aganon, Yaritzza Montenegro, and Ayma Malik
October 24, 2023
Campus internet and student account retrieval are being restored after outage and cyberattack.
CCSD students were unable to access their school Google accounts outside their campus Wi-Fi jurisdiction. They were met with an error message blocking them from opening any Google applications. “I was trying to do my homework,” junior Henry Lewis said. “It sucks, but it’s whatever because I didn’t have my homework done anyway. So it’s convenient in this moment.”

CCSD STUDENT ACCOUNTS FROZEN OUTSIDE OF CAMPUS

Yaritzza Montenegro, Ayma Malik, and Kathryn Peterson
October 17, 2023
A "cybersecurity incident" caused student account information to be compromised.
Café Láon offers coffee, tea, bingsu and croffles, a croissant and waffle hybrid. Grade: B-

Relax at Café Láon with Filling Treats

Yaritzza Montenegro, Copy Editor
October 17, 2023

Everyday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 8635 S Rainbow Blvd Unit 110, Las Vegas, NV 89139 Accepts cash, card, Apple Pay Coffee shops are synonymous with being one of the best places for students to snack and...

Homecoming royalty was determined by the money in our pockets and the food in our pantries. What should remain a popularity contest has stooped to the next level: financial inequity.

Homecoming royalty was determined by the money in our pockets and the food in our pantries. What should remain a popularity contest has stooped to the next level: financial inequity.

Sporting CCEA blue, Southwest CTA teachers protest before school hours to comply with NRS 288.230 and in support of the union’s mission to build what they believe is an equitable contract for teacher’s salary increases. CCSD and CCEA continued negotiations this week. “The goal is to show the district that teachers are not happy with the current conditions and pay,” Social Studies teacher Jessica Kelly said. “I just hope that parents and students care enough to support us publicly. For example, contact our region’s School Board Trustee or our superintendent Jesus Jara in support of teachers.”

Teacher salary concerns continue after two more days of negotiations

Jianna Aganon and Yaritzza Montenegro
August 19, 2023
CCEA is negotiating with CCSD about contract changes.
Giving advice on an assignment, Jenny Byington interacts with her students. She became a teacher because she loved working with people. “She has made me a better student in a sense,” sophomore Angel Fonseca said. “The way she presents the work and the deadlines on everything is really clear and it helps me manage my other work as well.”

New Year, New Experiences

Yaritzza Montenegro, Staff Writer
May 10, 2023
Teachers discuss their growth throughout the 2022-2023 school year.
Working diligently, students in Algebra I work on a problem. Teachers were notified about the exam in February. “My major concern is that CCSD made the decision about EOCs well into the school year,” Algebra 1 teacher Kirsten Landau said. “They have given us very little time to adjust our plans and prepare for this assessment.“

‘End of Course Exams’ Return for the Upcoming School Year

Jianna Aganon and Yaritzza Montenegro
April 18, 2023
After years of hiatus, End of Course exams are being reintroduced into the curriculum.
Preparing to attend the awards ceremony, HOSA poses for a photo with their teacher chaperones at SLC 2022. Students competed in various areas of their choice, from presentations to the demonstration of medical skills. “I’m a bit disappointed in not being able to go,” HOSA President senior Yusra Shafique said. “I had a great time last year and was looking forward to organizing the trip for our members. Underclassmen still have the opportunity to attend SLC in the upcoming years, however, seniors that didn’t get to attend SLC prior to this year won’t get the experience of the competition since they’ll unfortunately be graduating.”

Shift in HOSA Adviser Results in SLC Cancelations

Yaritzza Montenegro, Staff Writer
March 5, 2023
The conference for HOSA has been canceled for students due to changes within the club.
INFOGRAPHIC: INCREASING GUN VIOLENCE

INFOGRAPHIC: INCREASING GUN VIOLENCE

Yaritzza Montenegro, Staff Writer
February 28, 2023
Gun Violence Statistics have been increasing since 2004.
Gliding through the water, junior Justyn Grayce Moceros races towards the finish line. She has been swimming since she was 4. “I like how swimming is more of an individual sport,” Moceros said. “You don’t really have to rely on other people, which I really like. I don’t really like to depend on people because people usually tend to disappoint you and it’s better to just make sure that you can do things yourself.”

Sensational Swimmer: Meet Justyn Grayce Moceros

Yaritzza Montenegro, Staff Writer
January 30, 2023
Moceros continues to grow in her swimming journey.
“I’ve already taken most of my exams, so I feel prepared,” junior Purnima Neoupane said. “I’m most worried about my anatomy class. I feel like that class has a lot of information that we have to remember. She did say that we could use our notes, but at the same time, it is a lot of information to write down.”

Q&A: Are you prepared for your semester exams?

Yaritzza Montenegro, Staff Writer
December 9, 2022
Students let us know if they are prepared for their semester exams.
Helping to plan the event, senior class Vice President Charity Caday is excited for the upcoming Senior Social. STUCO has been preparing for the event to ensure student satisfaction. “I’m most excited to be able to plan an event where it’s just seniors and to be able to hang out with everyone and bond with my class,” Caday said. “I think they will most likely enjoy receiving their senior shirts, as well as getting to enjoy food and hang out with their friends.”

Helping to plan the event, senior class Vice President Charity Caday is excited for the upcoming Senior Social. STUCO has been preparing for the event to ensure student satisfaction. “I’m most excited...

Where Are They Now: Dannielle Donalvo

Where Are They Now: Dannielle Donalvo

Yaritzza Montenegro, Staff Writer
November 30, 2022
Take a look into Class of 2022 graduate Dannielle Donalvo's life.
Getting high marks is important to some students, however the overload of work and overexertion have resulted in the burnout of certain individuals.

The Perils of Burnout

Yaritzza Montenegro, Staff Writer
November 20, 2022
Retaining motivation after tackling numerous assignments is difficult to overcome, however it is common and able to be resolved.
Where Are They Now: Briana Saldivar

Where Are They Now: Briana Saldivar

Yaritzza Montenegro, Staff Writer
November 18, 2022
Take a look into Class of 2022 graduate Briana Saldivar's life.
Throughout the duration of the unit, junior Ilani Miron is confident in her comprehension of what the story is about. The students started reading the play in the month of November. “The play is about the Salem Witch Trials how certain people were counted as witches in the town of Salem Massachusetts,” Miron said.

An Hour In … English

Yaritzza Montenegro, Staff Writer
November 10, 2022
Reading aloud in class, students in English 11 begin analyzing "The Crucible."
VIB: This weekend in Vegas 11/11/22

VIB: This weekend in Vegas 11/11/22

Yaritzza Montenegro, Staff Writer
November 10, 2022
Find something fun to do this weekend.
VIB: This weekend in Vegas 11/4/22

VIB: This weekend in Vegas 11/4/22

Yaritzza Montenegro, Staff Writer
November 4, 2022
Find something fun to do this weekend.
As students adjust to the sudden change, senior Trinity Mendeguarin and junior Valeria Gonzalez practice donning and doffing personal protective equipment. Changes have been made to the skills that are taught and tested, condensing many of them into smaller steps. “Students may not be prepared to work in the clinical site,” Nursing teacher Cassandra Trummel said. “I think that they’ll be fine and prepared to take the test, but I think that it will be overwhelming for them when they get a job in that field and at clinicals since it will look a lot different than what is done in the classroom.”

As students adjust to the sudden change, senior Trinity Mendeguarin and junior Valeria Gonzalez practice donning and doffing personal protective equipment. Changes have been made to the skills that are...