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Staff of the Month: Mr. Childs
Staff of the Month: Mr. Childs
By Maeve Sonrode and Kiarra Randall
September 22, 2023
The teacher selected for staff of the month is English teacher Mr. Childs. He teaches grades 9th, 10th, and 12th. Many students admire and appreciate Mr. Childs. He’s been teaching for many years and has enjoyed his experience teaching at Monterey High.
“I like the culture here, the diversity and I like the school spirit and I’m local to the area”, said Childs in response to why he chose to teach at Monterey High School.
Mr. Childs actually grew up on the peninsula. He has lived in Pacific Grove, Carmel and Del Rey Oaks. He was inspired to start teaching because of his observations while watching his dad teach.
“My dad was a teacher so when I was young I would watch him in the classroom, interact with students and it looked like a worthwhile job,” said Childs.
He enjoys his job very much and his students are his favorite part of teaching. Besides him being an English teacher he is involved in other extracurricular activities in school.
“Im the english department chair, and the assistant girls varsity basketball coach. I’ve been a club advisor and a JV boys basketball coach,” said Mr. Childs.
Mr. Childs. Is very active in the school community. However, he also has interests and hobbies outside of school. Including, family time, music and shoes.
“I go to a lot of concerts and music festivals and I take my wife with me a lot. I love shoes and my favorite shoe are dunks”, said Childs. Fun fact about Childs is that he has about 40 pairs of shoes.
He is a great example of an excellent teacher. He’s encouraging, motivating, and empathetic, and has made a positive influence in many of his students lives.
“Mr. Childs is a very friendly and compassionate teacher who not only jokes with his students but also encourages and educates them well,” said Joaquin Woodfill (‘24), a student of Mr. Childs.
Mr. Childs undeniably has many qualities of what a teacher should be. He’s very consistent with his compassion, and supportiveness and makes sure that his students feel welcomed and understood.
Club Spotlight: Pearl Status
Club Spotlight: Pearl Status
By Kiarra Randall & Sienna Grant
September 20, 2023
This month we are spotlighting Pearl Status. Pearl Status is a club focused on empowering young girls while also teaching them important lessons to help them thrive. It is held every other Thursday, in room 30 with Ms. Powell.
Pearl Status constantly makes an effort to spread positivity around the school. For example, last week they passed out cookies around campus that had positive messages attached to them. “You look beautiful!” one of the tags attached to the cookies read. These cookies were just a tiny part of how Pearl Status raises students' spirits at MHS.
With the return of Mrs. Powell, this year the club was able to start again as it did four years ago! President of the club, Ogechi Anyanwu (‘24) says her sister was in the club during her time in high school. This inspired her to restart the club, as it was a positive experience for her sister and other Monterey alumni.
“Pearl Status is a young girls empowerment club on campus and our main vision is to teach girls good morals and standards and going against the flow,” said Ms. Powell, Pearl Status’s advisor.
Young girls of all grades are encouraged to join as this club will help them acknowledge their self-worth, and help them become comfortable with who they are, whether it goes against society's norms or not.
“It’s a really great club, in my opinion we empower young girls to know their worth and value, to know who they are, and to not conform to what society might be labeling them as it’s really nice to see girls come in who struggle with low self confidence…not loving themselves and being apart of the club, and they are able to discover who they truly are and gain that self-confidence and that self-love for themselves” said Ms. Powell.
Ms. Powell admires the age, cultural diversity, and variation of girls participating in the club. It offers different perspectives and opinions, which she appreciates..
“I really love the different grade levels and culture in our club, it’s not just one specific culture or one specific group of girls but it's from freshmans all the way to seniors and there’s just different backgrounds and ideas, it's a huge beautiful group of girls that are part of it,” . Ms. Powell is hoping and planning to host fundraisers this year at some sports events.
“We are planning to sell snack bars at soccer games and maybe girls basketball… we definitely are planning to,” said Powell.
With that being said, keep an eye out for any fundraisers they may be having so that you can support them.
Homecoming Debrief
Homecoming Debrief
By Amber Kane and Kathryn Combs
September 19, 2023
On September 16, 2023, Monterey High Students and guests gathered in Harmon Gym for Monterey High’s annual Homecoming Dance. After months of anticipation, the school’s Around the World Dance was finally here! From 7:00pm to 10:00pm Toreadors and friends of Toreadors danced the night away in their best homecoming fits.
At homecoming this year, the DJ played some recognizable bops. However, Alistaire Palting, a rising Senior, wishes the DJ had played “some 2010 bangers” and wished they hadn’t played all the best songs at the start of the dance.
No night would be complete without a minor setback. Palting shared that his night was interrupted by a guy with “absurdly sweaty” hair. Said guy proceeded to rub his sweaty head on Palting’s back, and his “whole back was just soaked for the rest of the dance.” Overall, Palting was glad he got to spend one last homecoming with his friends.
To continue, Stefan Georgescu (26’) explained “I had an electric experience, it is truly bewildering that the school can create such an environment for me and I feel humbled and honored to have been able to attend the dance”.
Homecoming 2023 has come to an end, and overall MHS students had an eccentric time. They laughed, sang, danced, and sweated about 100 pounds off, but homecoming was an overwhelming success, so it's exciting to see what's in store for the rest of this year's events.
Homecoming Spirit Week
Homecoming Spirit Week
By Mariella Campo and Jazlynn Wilson
September 16th, 2023
It's the 2023 Homecoming season, Dores! Here's a recap of September 11th- 15th Monterey High Homecoming spirit week.
All grades were assigned a theme for Homecoming to decorate their hallways, Freshmen were France, Sophomores were Brazil, Juniors were the Pacific Islands, and Seniors were Japan.
Monday the 11th was Flag day: come to school wearing the colors of your country or flag.
Tuesday was Tacky Tourist day, students and staff came to school in Hawaiian shirts and shorts looking very tacky and very touristy.
Wednesday was rally day and tie dye day. The dance and cheer teams both performed at the rally.. Dancer, Haely Russel (‘26) shared, “Our music kinda stopped but we still finished it and did well. I'm pretty proud of the performance.
There were two games during the rally, one of which being a class relay race where students had to eat a croissant with their hands behind their back, kick a ball into a goal, bear crawl on a slip slide, and then roll a student in an inflatable ball across the field. The seniors won the relay.
Thursday was travel day. Students brought suitcases instead of backpacks, and wore their ideal travel day fits.
Lastly, Friday was green and gold day to get our students hyped up for the game. Students were released 30 minutes early to walk in the parade All homecoming royalty and nominees were in the parade, as well as all Fall sports. There were also performances by drumline and the cheer and dance teams. They walked the length of Alvarado street and back to school.
After all the fun themes and activities throughout the week, it was needless to say, students at MHS were antsy to get to the big finale, the homecoming game at MPC.
Girls Tennis
Girls Tennis
By: Grace Kitchens
September 20th, 2023
The MHS Girls Tennis team had their first match on Tuesday, September 19th. They played an away match against the North Salinas High Vikings. Though they played well and showed excellent Toreador spirit, they were unfortunately defeated, losing 6-1. It was a great learning opportunity and the Toreadors did a fantastic job. Despite the loss of this match, we shouldn’t be discouraged as there are still many other opportunities throughout the season to reclaim victory.
A few weeks before the first match, there were also two scrimmages. “They were schools from the higher league so it was very beneficial.” States player Emi Okanda-Alonzo (27). This is likely true, and definitely helped the team be more prepared to play the Vikings.
Along with the match, the team has a new coach this year, Coach Jim. He coached boys' tennis before joining the Monterey High School family. He says coaching girls tennis is, “a completely different makeup. But I want to say that with the girls' undiluted enthusiasm, the girls' team is excellent.”
He also appreciates their willingness to learn, which he says, “is a feat in itself.” The team also seems to really enjoy Coach Jim. “We all have high expectations for the new coach,” says Lily Finocchiaro (27), “He’s doing great so far.”
The spirit and morale of the team seem high as multiple players and the coach have said. “I think we’ve got a great spirit of competing,” says Coach Jim. Finocchiaro says, “Team spirit has been pretty great so far. Everyone has been happy to be there and happy to join.” The team appears to be a positive, fun environment. “I just really love playing. When I play I just have fun.” Emi Okanda-Alonzo (27) says, showing this.
Overall, even though the first game they lost, it still seems like it will be a promising season for the Monterey High Girls Tennis team!
Girls Field Hockey
Girls Field Hockey
By Mariella Campo
September 21st, 2023
The Monterey High Field Hockey team’s home game took place on September 21st, against Salinas High.
Varsity won their game 2-1, player Allison Olms made the first and second goal with an assist from Jordyn Mcgirt. Jv lost their game 3-0.
Although JV lost their game, the girls have grown so much since the start of the season.
Varsity coach Ms. Herrera shared, “If I look back to summer and how they did back then, it's like a whole new team, I am so proud of them.”
This was the first home game for Varsity but the second home game for JV. JV played York back on September 8th. Both teams played very hard and after a lot of back and forth, they ended the game with a score of 0-0.
JV player Melissa Carter (‘26) “I guess home games are a little more stressful because I feel more pressure when we're at home.” With a lot of the season still ahead of them, coach Herrera is extremely excited for what the team has in store. “We have a lot more games than we did last year, so it's gonna be good practice for the players, and it's just gonna be a lot of fun.”
The girls next game is on Wednesday the 27th, at home against Carmel. Make sure to support the field hockey team and cheer on our lady Dores!
Dance Team (Homecoming)
Dance Team (Homecoming)
By Alliah Mendoza
September 15, 2023
On September 15, 2023, the Monterey High Dance Team held their annual homecoming dance at MPC. The crowd went wild as the dance team started performing. Due to the last victory of JV against the opposing team with a score of 14-0, the crowd is already hyped up.
Liannah Orellana (25) one of the captains of the Dance Team said, “I think that we did a great job, I feel like I didn’t do quite well because my mind is not that prepared. But I love the crowds and the dance team overall did a great job”. But the audience doesn't think that she did a really good job and all of their practice comes out good. “I was so impressed with Liannah, like she really makes a really good captain for the dance team. Her dancing skills are so good too. For me I think she is the star of the night.” said Katelynn Finocchiaro (26).
Some of the songs that they used at their homecoming game performance: Labels or Love by Fergie, Mi Cama by KAROL G and La Mama de la Mama by El Alfa, El Cherry Scoom, CJ.
Almost all of the songs that they used were hyped up, which gave the dance team performance a lot more interesting to watch and get everyone to enjoy their performance. “They’re so creative in creating the dance moves, choosing the songs and how they pull it all up was really amazing! I don't think I can do that personally, but they’re really amazing!” said Annabelle Lopez (26).
The people started shouting and cheered as soon as the dance team ended their wonderful performance that they have been preparing for weeks. Because of their amazing performance the last half of the varsity game became more exciting to watch with a winning score of 51 - 0 against the opposing team. Given the good performance that the dance team gave us, I could see that we have a good school year to look forward to. Let’s also look forward to the more upcoming performance of the dance team!
Student of the Month: Elizabeth Jimenez
Student of the Month: Elizabeth Jimenez
By Xaria Cisneros
September 14, 2023
There are an abundance of exceptional students at Monterey High School. However, Elizabeth Jimenez (‘24) has been doing an outstanding job so far this school year with how she balances being an academic student, director, and achiever. “I love theater and I love AMP, being AMP president, drama president, and digital arts co-president. I also love show choir.”
Jimenez has managed to make her way through the difficulties of high school by following a few strategies…essentially her guide to being successful throughout all four years.
“Definitely take notes in an actual notebook, I feel like last year I took a lot of notes for history and stuff on Google Docs and I didn’t actually retain any of that information, so definitely having actual notes help.” is all part of Jimenez’s ultimate guide to being successful in high school!
Every student has goals for themselves for the upcoming school year. Everyone’s goals vary, so Jimenez was kind enough to share hers.
“I want to have fun and try new things. I don’t want to regret anything about my senior year because I was afraid to try anything.” With a new school year comes a fresh start, where every student has something they look forward to, but could also be nervous about.
“Something I’m excited and nervous about is directing ‘The Wolves,’ because I’m excited but it’s also a huge leadership position and while I’ve been in leadership positions before, it hasn’t been as direct or giving orders to people.”
“The Wolves,” the story of a girl’s soccer team, will be coming to the Monterey High Players Theatre in late January, directed by Jimenez herself. It is in fact a huge leadership role, but she has definitely proven herself to be capable of accepting the challenge.
OP-ED: Does Social Media Harmful to our Mental Health?
OP-ED: Does Social Media Harmful to our Mental Health?
By Maeve Sonrode
September 21st 2023
Social media has been a staple in people's lives since the 90s when the first social media website was born. In 1997 the website SixDegrees.com became a very popular site. You could create a profile, text, and create new connections with people. To this day social media has just grown in popularity. Teens constantly check their phone to see if someone has snapped them or dmed them on instagram or stress over which picture looks the best in their feed but not everyone thinks about how harmful these apps can be to our mental health.
Social media constantly has people comparing themselves to others because they don’t look like the famous instagram models or have as interesting a life as what people are showing on their platforms. People will edit their photos or use filters just to fit into an unrealistic expectation social media has formed. This is extremely deteriorating to one's well being and can ruin someone’s self image.
Tik tok has also gotten a lot of negativity lately because of the amount of people that will comment awful things on people’s posts. Cyber bullying is an extreme problem throughout social media because people think that since they are just saying something behind a screen that it won’t have a consequence and it is a lot easier saying it to someone you don’t know in person.
FOMO (fear of missing out) is one of the biggest things that takes a toll on people’s mental health. When you see on social media that you aren’t doing what the person is doing or that you weren’t invited it can lead to depression, sleep loss, memory loss, and poor academic performance. Social media also causes people to feel more lonely and have a lower self-esteem than most non social media users. Social media is not always a bad place but definitely is bad for your mental health.
Artist Highlight: Dawsen Brej
Artist Highlight: Dawsen Brej
By Harlow Gil
September 1st 2023
Dawson Brej (24’) is a MAOS (Monterey Academy of Oceanographic Science) student with an heavy interest in science and technology, but is thoroughly interested in artistic expression, and believes that “The beauty of art transcends these boundaries [of academies]” Brej has honed his artistic skills by taking many classes and workshops with various art teachers at Monterey High.
This includes Ceramics with Mrs. McMercury, Digital Arts with Ms. Tonkin, a summer drawing group with Ms. Rago, and is now in IB Visual Arts with Mrs. Hartfelt. “Each class has provided me with unique opportunities to learn more about art and to practice and develop as an artist,” Brej expressed.
Brej works in a variety of mediums; typically in graphite, watercolor, colored pencils and photography. The subjects of his work frequently consist of “...how oppression and revolution have shaped LGBTQ+ culture in the United States.” This theme is expressed in the piece Brej is currently working on.
Untitled at the moment, Brej’s watercolor piece for his IB Visual Arts Exhibition aims to bring to light the rising violence against minorities. “Within recent years, there's been a great deal of rhetoric surrounding the rights of minority groups which has directly contributed to a rise in hateful, violent crime across the country,” he asserted.
In terms of advice for up and coming artists, Brej expressed sympathy and concern for people wanting to break into creative work in a time where generative AI art creation is on the rise. “I think my best advice at this time would be to find your unique brand and style,” he explained, “but also I would say it's an excellent idea to explore other interests, learn the business of art, and most importantly, try to still have some fun with it! Of course, that's easier said than done.”
Good luck and congratulations to Dawson!
OP-ED: Abortion Bans
OP-ED: Abortion Bans
By Grace Kitchens
August 29, 2023
A report done in January 2023 showed that women are now nearly three times more likely to die from childbirth in states with abortion bans. This is the worst maternal mortality rate among developed countries.
Officials in office say that they are protecting our women and their unborn children with these abortion bans, but if that's true then why have deaths during childbirth spiked? Why are more women dying because a man is telling her what she can and can’t do with her own body? Abortion (and a woman's choice to do what she wants with her body) shouldn’t be taken away by men or people who think it’s wrong.
While there are women on the Supreme Court voting on these laws, the majority of voters have always been men. It is easy for a man to tell a woman not to give up on an unborn child (even if it could kill the mother and the child) because they have no idea what it’s like being a woman. They could easily walk away from the mother and therefore the child and no one would blink an eye, but the woman is pregnant. She doesn’t have a choice in carrying that baby.
Abortion bans take away a woman's right to choose what to do with her body and whether or not she wants that child. It is highly hypocritical of men to tell women that they are “abandoning” the infant when the fathers of those unborn children do it all the time and there are no laws preventing them from doing so. If it’s going to be illegal for women to “abandon” the unborn child then shouldn’t it be illegal for men to do the same?
Sometimes an abortion is necessary to save the mother. An example is an ectopic pregnancy. This is where a fertilized egg grows outside the uterus, more than 90% of the time in the fallopian tube. The embryo has virtually no chance of surviving birth. The embryo can grow up to 12-13 weeks before it dies from insufficient hormone and nutrient supply, only when it’s allowed to grow for that long can it cause the fallopian tube to rupture. If this ruptures, without immediate medical attention, the mother will ultimately die. When you ban abortion, you take away this woman’s right to live a full and healthy life if this should happen, ultimately ending two lives.
Overall, abortions are a woman's right. It is her body, she should be able to choose what to do with it even if it makes a man, or anyone else uncomfortable. Not only just having the right to do whatever you want with your own body, but it’s also about making sure women aren't dying because of people's prejudices. To help end these heinous abortion bans and stand up for women's rights, you can donate at Protect Abortion Access and help save a life.
Girls Volleyball
Girls Volleyball
By Eliana Del Rosario
September 8th, 2023
MHS’s girls volleyball team(s) began their league season on Thursday, September 7th. The girls from Monterey High’s JV and Varsity teams swept Gonzales right off their feet with a prosperous game. JV won 2-0 and Varsity won 3-1.
Monterey High’s Varsity Girls had their fans and viewers at the edge of their seats, cheering and roaring, as the varsity girls all did phenomenal jobs in the game. We’re all proud of our Lady Dores!
Varsity’s team captains, Lexi Leleua, Raina McCarthy, and Willa Olalia had an astonishing performance during their first league game – Leleua (‘25) attaining nine kills, seven aces, one block, and six digs. McCarthy (‘25) with seven kills, four aces, two blocks, and fourteen digs, and Olalia (‘25) with two aces, ten assists, and fourteen digs.
After their first league win, the three captains were able to share a few words: “I’m excited to see our team thrive,”Olalia exclaims. “We didn’t get to push ourselves to be the best that we can and I feel like that we have that opportunity now”. Olalia adds, “I hope to keep our offense fast and consistent to keep our opponents on their toes.” Olalia has hopes that she and her team can enjoy their new season as Juniors and make it to CCS this year. Veteran players and up-and-coming ones.
Leleua claims that “you are your biggest critic: Volleyball is a mental and emotional game and that nobody will be as hard on you as you are on yourself, so it’s good to always be playing with confidence.”
Raina McCarthy shared how she improved as a volleyball player. She has hopes to make First Team, where they hand pick 1-2 girls from each team in the area to come play. McCarthy (‘25), and many other players on all three of our teams, or even the alumni volleyball players, could concur. “I’ve become better through learning from my mistakes… I always try to perform the best I can when participating in games because I want to be a good teammate for my peers,” says McCarthy.
Each of these players, undoubtedly, have a great love for volleyball. Whether it gets challenging or not, each of them have pushed themselves to the limit. Our Volleyball Program this year is set for the season. All girls are booming in each of their league games this season.
Girls Water Polo
Girls Water Polo
By Dominic Castaneda G and Ashley Mcgee
September, 2023
Monterey High School has many sports, but Girls Water Polo is one of the most exciting yet underrated sports at our school!
To begin, Cate Cabanillas 26’ transferred this year from Santa Catalina where she played Water Polo last year and decided to join MHS’ Girls Water Polo Team. Cabanillas shared, “my favorite thing about joining this year is the community and meeting all of the water polo girls which they were all so nice, along with our Coach, who is so welcoming and loving.” Cabanillas also explained that even though she can’t play until the 24th because of the transfer, practice has been so fun and she has learned many things, so she is excited to apply
This year the Varsity girls have played two league games so far. The first against Alvarez, and the second against Santa Catalina. This was an exciting game because the girls had three of their players, Ava Celaya, Kathryn Combs, and Lily Cordier switch over and play for the alvarez team!
Myla Avila 26’ described, “this was a great learning experience because we got to practice playing a league game with a lot less pressure due to some of our players being on the opposing team. This also made it a lot more fun for us because it felt more like practice then a game. We still took it seriously, but we had a chance to laugh and enjoy the moment.”
The game against Santa Catalina was also an exciting game because the Varsity girls had already played Catalina two times before the league game. They had a scrimmage during the beginning of the season, along with an out of league game at a tournament at Hollister High. Unfortunately they lost both of their games before their on league game but the third game against Catalina was the most exciting because they won that game 8-6.
The MHS girls water polo team has had an exciting start to their season so far, so it is exciting to see how far they are going to come at the end of the season. Fantastic job so far ladies! Go Aquadores!
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