News and Features

Table of Contents

The Wonders of Leaderships Preparations 

By Aaron G. Sanchez 

Photos by Aaron G. Sanchez

Leadership is a group who makes many preparations for South Gate Senior High and has an active role in promoting events, where students get to express their creativity to plan events and raise school spirit. Now here’s a chance to look into the activities and ways they come up with the work seen around the campus. 

There’s many things Leadership does for their preparations, whether collaborating with one another or alone, they get the job done promoting events all around the school. They are in charge of making sure students know what’s going on in their school community.

“What we currently do in leadership overall is just whatever upcoming event we have as a school,” said Idania Vides, a South Gate Junior. “We try our best to promote every event as soon as possible with posters and flyers we pass around school.”

Vides believes everybody has the ability to participate and put their part into Leadership. She also finds her own joy in being able to share her own ideas and thoughts to help out. 

“Each person has the ability to come up with something.,” said Vides. “ It's just putting your part in as well, so I do like to put my part in and just cooperate with the class and to just put ideas out there just makes me happy.”

There’s different jobs Leadership members are a part of to help out in to keep everything organized and running smooth. There’s people who focus on different parts of leadership like fundraising or things like running the SGHS Leadership account on social media.

“My role is a manager to keep track of supplies,” said Daniela Villanueva, a Junior at South Gate high. “ I check what is in the room to tell the head manager what is missing or what we need.”

Everyone has their active role in leadership whether that’s their participation working on things themselves or offering their help to one another. Many students make sure to collaborate or make sure they always have something to do instead of sitting around.

“I mostly make posters for special events or events coming up. Technically my job is to help everyone because I'm a member at large so you kind of do everything.” Fatima Uribe, another Junior at South Gate said.

Another point of view shown in the class is that no matter how creative someone is or if you don’t have ideas you still get to be included and have your opinion matter just as much. Just participating and being active with class discussions helps, said Uribe.

“I kinda just go along with the class but you do create different ideas and come up with them.” 

Throughout the class, they have votes on what the theme should be for any events. They are the ones who come up with the ideas you see around campus and make their ideas come to life.

“We mostly start off with a theme then we go off with our committees which mine is public relations which is mostly promoting the events,” Villanueva said.

Not only does Leadership take the creativity you have and give you a way to express it, you can meet new people, Vides said. It is a nice environment altogether, when you need help it comes to you or if you would like to offer your help around is it always more than appreciated.

“With time I was able to meet more people and overall the people in the class that are chosen and that are in Leadership just find a way.” said Vides, “if they're not doing anything they offer themselves to help.

The Problem with School Fights and Their Consequences 

By Alexandra Nuno

Photo by Alexandra Nuno

South Gate High School staff has had to deal with an increase in fights and enact the  consequences students may face if involved in those fights. 

South Gate High School’s intervention coordinator Carlos Figueroa, spoke about how the staff deals with the fights outside of the classroom. He also spoke about how teachers deal with fights when they occur in the classroom. 

“It depends on what you see at once… on what's happening if it's a physical fight then you know of course the Dean or anybody immediately they deal with it right then and there,” Figueroa said. “If it's in a classroom the teacher will usually report it to S-1 and then we go ahead and we help out… as much as possible.”

Figueroa talks about how they are able to expel students who get into fights. He also states how the school does not condone fighting in any way. 

“... you can be expelled for fighting,” Figueroa said. “That's a no-no we don't accept fighting with anyone in any way we don't condone it in any way we want to make sure that safety is always first…” 

South Gate High School’s guidance counselor Ricardo Marquez talked about how students who get into these fights are most likely to get kicked out of school. He also spoke on the fact that it may affect students when applying for colleges. 

“...If it gets too out of hand, then they will try to kick you out of the school, cause guess what? You’re here for academics, not to get into fights.” Marquez said. “So it could affect them when they start applying for college.” 

Marquez states how the school uses a practice called restorative justice where they try to figure out the root cause of the fight. He also states that they try to acknowledge their students' feelings. 

“Then we try to have this conversation amongst us opposed to fighting and just so the restorative justice component is trying to get to the root of the problem.” Marquez said. “So, it's not like, we’re punishing you, we’re just like, ‘Okay, I acknowledge you’re upset, I acknowledge that she hurt your feelings. How can we fix it so it doesn't happen again?’” 

South Gate High School’s assistant principal Marcelo Martinez stated how the school always has supervision whether it's during or after school. He said they always make sure to have adults present and visible at all times.

“ …in school we definitely do supervision,” Martinez said. “We have to make sure that all adults are present and visible then of course get students moving right, have adults be recognized and then of course at every transition period we have supervision.After school we are of course at dismissal… again adults supervising students as they start walking home.”

Martinez said how the school communicates with the students and what is expected of them. He also states how during assemblies they remind students about the six steps to success. 

“... What we always want to do is speak to students, communicate to students what's expected of them not only academically but also behavior-wise” Martinez said. “We have student assemblies in which of course inform students what the six steps to success are.”

Martinez states what the main reasons for the fights are. He said that one of the main reasons for said fights is social media and how things can be misinterpreted. 

“Social media unfortunately enough kids sometimes take to social media and they make comments and those comments sometimes are misinterpreted and then that causes a string of events that leads to fights.” Martinez said. “Unfortunately kids that use social media sometimes in a negative way that creates even more problems amongst them.”

Under the Red: The Halloween Blood Drive

By Daniela Reyes and America Sanchez

Photos by Daniela Reyes and America Sanchez

HSM (Health Science, and Medicine), a South Gate High club that holds weekly meetings every Thursday, has partnered up with the Red Cross to host their annual blood drive, located in the small gym as the years prior. The HSM homeroom members and their board hope to meet their goal of around 100 donors a week before October 28, 2024.

However, behind closed doors, students say it has been a hassle organizing the blood drive as school drains too much energy before students could get posters ready afterschool. As Kiara Martinez, an HSM homeroom member and Artist Director, explains, after school is tiring and it’s a struggle being on top in class while also having energy to work in the blood drive.

“I would say probably like there's school and stuff I had to like handle, the same time probably like being too tired. Because after school, I’m usually always like tired,” Martinez said. “I used to get here so early so I really had time to actually sleep a lot, but I would like be staying on top of my classes and having the energy to attend the blood drive events later on.”

Additionally, issues of time organization have risen as it was a struggle getting in contact with everyone who agreed to participate before the week of the blood drive arrives. Martinez expresses how they should have gotten the numbers of the participants more earlier on so the planning process would have been easier.

“We probably could have gotten more participants if we asked students when they signed up, or during the last meeting that we had to like put their numbers next to their names,” Martinez said. “That would have saved so much time when trying to get in contact with them.”

Furthermore, students need more time and more posters to promote the blood drive. Students in the club said they don't like to be rushed and they want to take their time in order to have everything on time. 

“It would help to have enough posters to promote the blood drive and have them done on time. So we don’t have to be rushing by the end of it,” Martinez said.

Consequently, preparing the blood drive isn’t the only issue as the recruiting process of donors has proven to be another hassle as well. Former HSM Homeroom and current club member, Emily Ruiz, describes that her struggles in previous years of the blood drive has been finding students willinging to donate blood. 

“It is finding somebody who’s at the age that they can donate and if they’re not, then getting their parents consent and making an appointment at the appropriate time,” Ruiz said. “ And as well as just getting them to agree to donate blood has been a hassle.”

A continuous issue of the blood drive is people not wanting to sign up to donate blood because they are scared of needles. Plus some people don't like the process of getting blood drawn and some might be scared of blood. 

“A lot of people are hesitant to sign up. A lot of people are like very scared of needles,” Ruiz said “ So they just really don’t know what to do or like they say no because they’re like, ‘oh, I don’t want to get my blood taken out,’ or they just say no sometimes.”

In addition, people don't want their blood drawn because they are scared of what might happen to them like fainting, or feeling light headed. HSM club member, Layla Cervantes, describes her first time donating blood as a scary experience.

“I definitely think like the needle, I was really scared of it at first and I was freaking out, but it wasn’t that bad, you didn’t really even feel it,” Cervantes said. “But, some hardships, you know, were like how it’s gonna feel after donating blood because I’ve never really donated it. So I think my fear is just how I would feel after.”

Despite the fears and difficulties, the Halloween blood drive has remained relevant amongst the students of South Gate High. Students can have a fun time donating blood and hanging out with others as they recover, making the experience much easier for anyone who wants to continue donating in the future.

“I think some benefits were that I got to hang out after and not go straight back to class and just get snacks which I think we’re cool,” Cervantes said. “It got easier each time and less confusing. It was something I would be doing again.”

There are also many great benefits for everyone who donates blood and those who get blood. Ruiz explains a big benefit of blood transfusions and blood drives is that it can help many people that need it to survive and those who run low on blood.

“Some benefits are helping out people in need who constantly need blood transfusions, or people who are in critical condition that need blood transfusions,” Ruiz said. “So I think it helps a lot considering that a lot of people do need blood transfusions often.” 

The Halloween Blood Drive has shown success rates in these past years despite these occurring setbacks. Members had managed to meet or even surpass their total goal of donors.

“I believe it’s going to run smoothly, it has always been a big success. Every year, they’ve gotten very close to or surpassed their goal of donors,” Ruiz said.

As Ruiz believes this year will be no different, HSM members have put great efforts into making this year's Blood Drive successful. After all, the important thing is that students enjoy their experience at the Blood Drive.

“Just have fun, just have fun with it. You only live once,” said Martinez.

Water Fountain Sanitization and Upgrades

By Edgar Hernandez

Photo by Edgar Hernandez

Current water fountains around South Gate High School have been described as “unsanitary, dirty, unclean,” By students and many other things about the water fountains. But upgrades may be announced soon. 

The students that were interviewed were asked questions on how the water fountains look and taste and were questioned on the sanitization. They also described how multiple water fountains were uncleaned for weeks. 

A current student at South Gate High School, Itzy Cornelio says “ the water fountains look rusty, old, and unsanitary…the water tastes like sink water.“ 

Current Junior, Aaron Sanchez described the looks of the water from the fountain and the taste and the usage of them. He claims how the water fountains taste like pennies and metal. 

"When I do occasionally use a water fountain, they're pretty gross,” he said. 

But to change the view on the water fountains, the vice principal, Marcelo Martinez,  also sees the less usage of fountains throughout the school year. When questioned how many students has he seen use the fountains he describes it to be a good amount or a little bit. 

"We have a lot of kids that use the drink water out of water bottles, right?,” he said. “So… I do see them, but I think I see more kids using water bottles.” 

Sanchez continues to describe the looks of it. When questioned on the state of the water fountains and on how they look to the eye he claims he sees multiple pieces of trash laid upon the water fountains for days or weeks on end. 

“Sometimes there's weeks where they have the same trash just poured on top of them, “ he said.“ They don't touch the fountains at all.”

Martinez brought up the fact that the water fountains in the school do get cleaned and re-flushed every day as per school requirement. He said after they  get flushed every day per say of district policy, and claimed they fix the fountains as quickly as possible. 

Martinez claims “ So, per district policy, uh Guadaucets, uh have to be flushed, meaning they have to be put in use daily by the plan manager and his staff. “  Martinez also says”I know water processes that are right now are inoperable. There are trouble calls that we're waiting for the district to come and resolve” 

But South Gate High School is looking to change this image on the fountains. Martinez announces the new changes towards the water fountains as an upgrade towards the school and  wants to provide the students here with better tasting water and refillable stations.

 "There is a project here that is scheduled, hopefully to be done by the end of not this year, but the start of next year” Martinez said. “ A water fillable station that would be located in the main building. So there is an actual project that is ongoing right now. They're hoping that comes to fruition sooner rather than later.” 

Sanchez said  he believes the new fountains would be a good upgrade and can possibly reduce the waste of plastic in the school. 

“I think it would be, and I think a lot of the students would actually use them,“ he said.

Martinez also believes that the new water fountains would bring better tasting water to the school and should also be seen as a major improvement towards this action. 

“I think that being a fillable station will not only reduce it but also provide kids with good drinking water, good tasting water,”  Martinez said.

Mrs. Corona’s Last Year as the College and Career Counselor and Her Experiences

By Emily Ruiz

Photo Courtesy of Cecelia Corona

Cecilia Corona the college and career counselor at South Gate High School will retire  after 35 years. Corona worked 10 years in the classroom, 9 years as an academic counselor and 16 years as the college and career counselor for South Gate High School.

“Especially now that my husband has retired, I'm excited to do new things, but at the same time, I've always felt that I wasn't ready,”  Corona said. 

Corona speaks about her feelings about working with South Gate High School’s campus well as her experience with working with the students. She shares the different aspects of her profession including the stressful parts of it such as deadlines, the amount of emails and messages she receives and trying to help everyone in a timely manner. She then said her absolute favorite part of working at SGHS is the students who she helps.

“But as soon as I walk into school, the campus and I see students, like, I love working with students” Corona said. 

Corona loves working with students but she wants to enjoy her retirement with her husband. Her brother and close co-worker who passed unfortunately never got to enjoy their retirement. She speaks about wanting to be able to enjoy retirement and plans to do many things with her husband since they will both be retired. 

“Our first one is gonna be going up North…road trip…gonna be one of the first ones while we can move,” Corona said. 

Wendy Bradley, one of the Gear up counselors at South Gate High School has worked alongside Corona for 4 years. She speaks about her thoughts on Corona and shares she won’t be missing Corona after she retires. 

“No, I'm not gonna miss her because I'm gonna find out where she lives, and I hope to get together with her, with her family,  at least once or twice a year,” Bradley said in a joking tone.

Bradley said  Corona and her have gotten closer and how she has helped her throughout the years. She brought up how she had not worked at a high school level and whenever she has questions Corona never makes her feel dumb or less than for not knowing something. 

 “So she has been my rock. She's been my go to for information,” Bradley said

Leslie Nava, a college and career counselor who works alongside Corona in the College and Career center, feels very similar to Bradley when it comes to Corona retiring. Corona and Nava have worked closely together for 2 years and said she  will miss Corona.

“She is the sweetest person ever and  we've made a connection outside of school, um and she's like a second mom to me… yeah, I'm gonna miss her a lot,” Nava said.

Nava and many others speak about how the SGHS campus will not be the same without Corona. They believe there will be a void without her spirit, encouragement, passion, and work ethic on campus. 

“I feel like her leaving is gonna definitely make a difference, because I feel like she takes her job so seriously and she's really passionate about it,” Nava said.

Corona will be missed by many on campus, including teachers, administration, co-workers, and most importantly students.

“Mrs. Corona is the epitome of working hard, figuring out what you wanna do, following your dreams…So she is the epitome of college-going culture,” Bradley said.

The Help of Gear Up

By Esmeralda Castellanos

At South Gate High School, Gear Up is a college program that can help all high school students with any type of questions they have for their future. Gear Up helps students with the process of discovering new opportunities when it comes to trying to figure out your college future. Gear up provides you with resources like zoom meetings, field trips to colleges, personal check ins, and many more support systems.

Arlene Alvarado is an academic advisor for gear up for the LA College Program. Something that motivated Ms. Alvarado to help others with college planning was when she was a part of the AVID program in high school, being a part of the AVID program in high school where  they helped her with her college and career lifestyle and inspired her to help others.

¨A big motivation factor for me was when I was in high school, ¨Alvarado said, “I was part of the AVID program. They really helped me with my college and career lifestyle, and I think having that support system in high school motivated me to give back to high school students to help them out with their process of college application or career explorations.¨

Gear up supports students in many ways and they are there to try and understand the struggles students seem to face. For example Alvarado said, students have a struggle picking what school or where to start. Alvarado mentions how she feels like the most challenging thing is leaving home for college.

 ¨A lot of students don't want to leave home because they are connected with their family and their friends and they're just scared of starting something new, but I always try to encourage them that it's okay to just leave for a while. ¨“They're always gonna be there. When they come back home, it doesn't hurt to explore new locations, new people to create,new connections.” 

Dr. Monique Ohashi  worked with first graders for 18 years,but  later on moved to help high school students. Mental health seems to be a struggle that a lot of students seem to struggle with, but  Gear up is always there to support and to listen to students.

¨I understand where students come from. I like to share my story when appropriate  things weren't the best for me..¨ she said. ¨There are always resources inside school and outside that the school can help provide while gear up supports you.¨

Ohashi mentions Gear up  is able to help any student depending on their questions. Gear  up can provide students with many different resources they might need when it comes to college applications and visiting colleges as well as informing you with anything you need

We have lots of different services that we offer for students for example We have family events that we offer via Zoom,¨.Ohashi Said.  ¨We're here every day on campus in room 402. we also do advising targeted a depending on what the needs are.¨

Wendy Bradly is a Gear up academic counselor for the class of 2025.She mentions how she thinks it's good to try to form a connection with students, but most students don't end up forming that type of connection with any of their counselors. 

"A struggle that I seem to have is trying to from a good relationship with students, where they trust me and I can get to know them on a personal level so they feel safe coming to me with their issues, Bradley said,¨I don't have that many connections  with a lot of students and most of the students students come last minute scared of not knowing what to do.¨

Bradley explains after June 2025, the students who graduate can still get the support they need even after graduation. Gear  Up can still help them during college for any question 

¨After June 2025, all seniors, we continue to support them as they grow up. So we let our students know that coming June to graduation day, the school district shuts down your email.  Bradley said So we have created a platform called Modern Campus where we can text you from your cell phone.’’

Another thing seniors should Keep in mind is if Gear Up doesn't have any type of information such as an email or number, they can't find a way to reach out to students whenever they need that support.  

¨If we don't have your cell phone number we can't reach out to you over the summer, it's good to let us know if you ever change your phone number,¨ Bradly said.

Gear Up can stay by student side the whole time including in college so it's good to always take advantage of the support they have. Gear up is a very educational program that is provided for free. 

¨You are enough whoever you are, you are a gift in your natural self,. Bradley said.

New Bell Schedule at South Gate High School

By Gabriela Rabago

Photos Courtesy of South Gate High School

South Gate high schools have a new bell schedule for the 2024-2025 school year. The new schedule is a block schedule compared to last year’s where students had different classes each day now students go to the same ones everyday. senior Eilanie Cumar likes the old schedule better than this semester schedule.

Cumar has been to South Gate for all of her high school career and dislikes the new schedule. She prefers the old block schedule rather than the new one.

“I guess I like the block schedule more because when we get assignments we get more time to do them.” Cumar said.”

Cumar said it makes classes harder for students when they are assigned projects to complete during class.She said it makes school harder as work is  due the next day.

“It could make the class harder if  I have a project or something, we need more time and like we have to turn it in the next day.” “Cumar said.”

12th grader Arleth Navarro, also agrees with Cumar about the new schedule.She thinks the new schedule is wack. The only thing she likes about the new schedule is that you get to see your friends in class everyday.

“I don’t like the schedule, it is wack, a good thing is that you get to see your friends everyday” Navarro said.”

She also stated that she liked the old schedule because she had more time.She would take naps and be able to work and turn her free time into a study period.

“I like the classes from the last schedule because… it gave me the chance to do my work with the old schedule. I would use my free time to do my work and turn it into a study period.” “Navarro said.”

Navarro  agrees that the new schedule does  make class harder because now everyone is on a tight schedule so they all have something to do and not as much free time.She states that most teachers give you homework that you have to turn in the very next day.

“Now everyone has something to do and they usually give you homework that you have to turn in the next day which is really hard.” “Navarro said.”

12th grader Stephany Mojarro likes the new schedule. She thinks that it's actually more convenient.

 “I think about the schedule is that it’s more convenient in a way.” “Mojarro said.”

Mojarro also said that the shorter classes make the day go by faster but it’s also tiring because we have 6 classes a day.

“The day does go by faster but in reality it’s the same.” “Mojarro said.

Upcoming Phone Ban

By Giselle Diaz

Photos by Giselle Diaz

 The phone ban was signed off in California, 2024, slowly making its way to South Gate High School in January, 2025, affecting students and teachers. Some think it's an amazing idea while others think the ban is silly. 

  Abigail Colorado, an 11th grader at South Gate High School, believes the ban isn’t a very good idea because she believes it’s an unnecessary action as people need their phones throughout the day.

“I feel that it’s kind of unnecessary but I do realize where they’re coming from because phones are a distraction,” “Colorado said.“I feel like they should just tell people to put them away and just keep them in their backpack so you don’t use them throughout the class, because what if there's an emergency and they end up making us lock up our phones in class and it would take forever to get them out?” 

  Kelley Martinez, a science teacher at South Gate High School, believes it’s an excellent idea because she thinks no phone will allow the students to connect with their peers or focus more in class. 

“I love the idea of a phone ban,” Martinez said. “I’ve really seen what a distraction phones are in the classroom. Chemistry is difficult enough to learn and teach without distractions so I think the phone ban would really help  the learning environment. I’ve heard parents might wanna be able to use phones to get a hold of students and that makes sense.”

  Aaron Shroeder, a science teacher at South Gate High School, could go either way with the ban. He thinks in certain ways it’s a positive thing while it may have some drawbacks.  

“I’m kinda indifferent about it, I guess,” he said. “I could see the benefits of it, getting students to pay more attention in class and stuff but I also see that there could be a lot of potential negative effects of it.”  

  A common factor Colorado, Martinez and Shroeder have is they all worry about the cases when there's an emergency and phones are needed. They all think not having your phone due to the ban is dangerous as it restricts access to family in dire situations. 

  “It definitely would affect my attitude towards the school because I just feel like it’s a really unnecessary, like I said, it’s just making me feel like where’s the districts priorities really because there's bigger problems I feel like they should be focusing on and they aren’t focusing on them and they’re more caring about phones so it’s kinda silly,” Colorado said.

  The problem Colorado thinks the district should be focusing on is is bullying, because it causes more issues for students.

“Wit] bullying you see it everyday,” she said. “You should be focusing on bullying more than phones because bullying leads to more problems than a phone would, like, bullying could lead to depression and then depression could lead to another thing and you’re not focusing on the bigger problems, you’re focusing on the little problems, unnecessary problems I feel.” 

As Colorado is a student’s perspective we can see how the phone ban will change the student body’s feelings towards school, causing a negative reaction to some students. 

  “I hope [the phone ban]  would have a positive effect,” Martinez said. “Many students don’t know what it’s like to attend school without a phone and I hope they see that it makes it easier for them to learn and encourages in person connection that I think a lot of us are lacking since you know when we’re on our phones we’re not connecting with people in real life.”

  Shroeder can see the bad and good side of the ban as he said that some students have said they would try to hide or sneak phones in.

“I think that the issue might still exist but I also think that it might affect students negatively in a way that, if they need to contact their parents about getting a ride home or if there's an emergency situation on campus I think that it will be difficult for them because they won’t have their phones to contact their family members,” he said. 

Overall,  Shroeder doesn’t really want the ban to happen but hoping it goes well but Martinez hopes the ban does happen but also wants it to go well. Colorado said her phone helps her in school. 

  “Definitely, it helps with seeing far away from the board, if I can’t see something I usually use my phone to zoom in and look at the questions,” Colorado said. “Also, like if I don’t have my laptop we usually just use our phones to log into schoology or whatever we need to do so that would probably be really difficult to do.”

  Martinez believed there would be some rebellion due to the ban. 

“I’ve also seen how phones make students more mellow in class or in the football stands so I wonder if it would have more of a destructive behavior, but yeah I think we’ll have some pushback definitely,” she said. “I think implementing it would be tough, it’s a huge uncomfortable change for everyone and I think it’s natural that people would rebel against it.”

Shroeder also thinks there will be a lot of backlash with the phone ban because students may make it hard to check or hide their backpacks, and students cannot be searched every

  Not a lot of information is known about the ban. All that is known is that a governor signed off on the ban this year, 2024, and will be starting in January. The way they are going to apply the ban is unknown for now.

This is what the South Gate High School Teachers know about the upcoming phone ban,

Shroeder said, “I don’t know much about it. I just know that LAUSD is banning the phones next semester, I don’t know how they’re going to implement it or what the plan is on how they’re going to collect the phones and things like that but we’ll see what happens, I guess.”

Shroeder is unaware of anything revolving around the ban but Martinez knows a little more, 

“I’ve just heard about the governor, maybe, signing off on it,” Martinez said. I know the district really wants to start in January with no phones on campus, I know my daughter's school district says students should keep phones, but that's really about it right now.”

 As well as not knowing how it’s going to be implemented it’s also unknown how long the ban is going to last.

“I feel like the ban will probably still be going on even when I graduate, but I feel like it won’t last that long, because people definitely are going to bring it to attention and say how it’s really unnecessary…,” Colorado said. “Like, we don’t need to use them constantly but there's no reason to ban them just like put them away in your backpack and make sure not to take them out.”

The South Gate Peer Health Advocates

By Layla Cervantes

Photos by Layla Cervantes

Anthony Ramirez, known as Bad Bunny at  South Gate High School by students, is a  peer health advocate who the students say they love and enjoy getting support from. His job at the school is to make the climate and energy better for the students are at South Gate High School.

Ramirez likes being a peer health advocate because he gets to interact with people and kids at school which is something he likes as a social person.

"My favorite thing is that I get to interact with a lot of people, not just the kids, like adults, and like, I like just hearing about people's lives.,” Ramirez said. “It puts my life in perspective and I just learn something different the more I learn something new.” 

Although being a climate advocate isn't something Ramirez saw himself doing. He enjoys it a lot and wouldn't change his career path. 

“At first, I've never thought of working with kids to begin with, and then the time that I've been in Iate working with the kids, I've grown to appreciate it and actually, like, enjoy and little bit now,” Ramirez said. “Sometimes it doesn't feel like work. That's actually really awesome.” 

Many students at South Gate have shown nothing but appreciation for Anthony Ramirez  which is something that he enjoys and appreciates at South Gate.   

“My favorite part is they're pretty receptive, like in my opinion, like anyone to ever come and ask for help with, like that they have open ears and they're respectable and understanding,” Ramirez said. “That's  pretty, right, because they don't really listen to anybody else.”

South Gate’s peer health advocates hold yoga in the gym to teach students well-being and relaxation in the small gyms on Mondays. Ramirez said it’s his favorite activity at school. 

“My favorite activity to do, um I like yoga, we have yoga on Monday, and it's not a popular hit yet, but  I like it, because I’m peaceful,” Ramirez said.

Claudia Izazaga is the second peer health advocate in South Gate High School. Her favorite activities to do around school with her partner Ramirez is helping kids out around the school, talking to everyone, and having a good time.

“My favorite thing, like, my partner would be for me mostly is being interactive with students,” Izazaga said. “I know all about students and, you know, helping them out, because I feel like we all need someone to kind of go through high school with.” 

Izazaga has enjoyed being at South Gate High and she has also enjoyed her times with the students here. She has also made memories with many of the students here. Seeing students they've grown close with and being involved in school activities makes her feel very happy. 

“I definitely like seeing students grow and how they change,” she said. “I think that's pretty awesome. and like, you know, when we see them in sports, pretty much evolved, I would say. That's like my best memories here.”

Izazaga has been here for students in ways others can't imagine. She's managed to help with students' personal problems in school and out of school and also has her partner, Ramirez,for support to help the students in need.

“You're not alone… we may feel alone and I think that's one thing where I relate with students, just anyone, no matter what your age is, you may feel in the situation that you're alone, but you're not,” Izagaza said. “So, that's why I love my job and connecting with them and reassuring them that we all go through hard times, but that doesn't mean it's the end. 
We just need a helping hand.” 

Izazaga and Ramirez help plan school field trips and movie nights for students to help them enjoy the outside world along with helping them be more social. They hold field trips such as movie nights, aquariums and even trips to Medieval Times coming up.

“So we have different field trips every month,” Izagaza said.”This month, we have the AMC and the Medieval Times, and the way we announce everything is through Schoology  and through social media, so we're doing and also going out there and interacting with the kids. so the way we reach out to students is Schoology, social media and during lunchtime, before school and after school. During lunch too,”Izazaga said”

Stephany Mojaro is a senior at South Gate High School who enjoys playing sports and talking with Ramirez and Izazaga, as they help her with their advice. 

“ I like them a lot,” Mojaro said. ”They're very helpful. They take us on field trips and they get, good education” 

Izazaga and Ramirez have helped Mojaro in school and out of school by helping her with school supplies and her academics. 

“ They've known my housing situation right now, so they've helped me out with, like, getting school supplies, uh, getting me taken on field trips and stuff like that.” Mojaro said.

Mojaro states that Claudia and Anthony have made high school a better environment for her and everyone else. 

“Anthony and Claudia have been a really good help for the school and I like them being here, ” Mojaro said.