By: Isabella Martinez and Jaylee Holland

“Pueblo County Dance Team!” 
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On January 29 through February 2, 2025, in Orlando, Florida the dance team from PCHS flew out to compete in the nationals competition. 
The team is entering into the competition in fourth place in their division, Intermediate Pom, and eleventh in the category Game Day. 
PCHS’s dance team has worked its way up the ranks from halftimes at football games to nationals in Florida. The dance team is separated into two categories, JV and Varsity. The season continues all year long with a two-month break. Tryouts are at the end of March, and the open gym starts in May. 
Once summer hits, there are practices every week preparing the team for the Universal Dance Association (UDA) camp, which usually takes place in June. In July the girls do choreo wire and learn the halftime routines as well as Pom and Game Day competition routines. From then on every month is working to prepare for competitions; it’s comp season. 

Senior Ava Tucci says, “The process of being at nationals is the absolute best. Normally, we get there if we are lucky enough to secure a spot on the Practice Marley at ESPN. (This is a specialized floor just for dancing).  We will go and practice our routines and spend a day at Disney. It kinda works out … the worse we do in comp, the more Disney time we get, and the better we do, the less time we get! For this year's nationals in particular we got less Disney time because we competed on every day we could compete!”

Once nationals happened they placed eleventh for game day which is huge since last year they didn’t place for that dance. In the Pom category, they placed fourth, six places higher than last year. PCHS’s dance team is fifth in the nation, they are truly making a name for themselves. 

Tucci explains, “If I’m being honest when we weren’t 8th, 7th 6th, or 5th I was absolutely freaking out. It was the most grateful and intense feeling I have ever felt knowing my team and I were 4th in the nation after already making 11th in a category we didn’t even place in last year! It was a filling only a dancer can describe.”

The varsity team is full of talent and drive, it is one of the hardest sports out there. The requirements for trying out are a mixture of turns and flexibility pieces. PCHS has only been to nationals twice for dance and they soaked up every second of it. Their coach, Ursaline Dech, truly pushes these girls to be at their best potential.

If you were thinking about trying out for this successful dance team Ava states, “I would say do it! I impulsively tried out my 8th grade year after never dancing and absolutely had to work harder for anything I have ever wanted but I would not trade or change a second of my time on this amazing team and I would do anything for one more season with my girls doing what we love so so much! So to anyone wanting to try out for this team, it will be one of the best decisions of your life! “

This team is more than just a group of girls, it’s a family. The dance team has truly built a strong bond with each other through the years. The connection will forever be remembered for these girls on and off stage.

By: Laura Segura 

The Pueblo County High School varsity cheerleading team has earned a spot at the prestigious national competition set to take place in Orlando, Florida, at the ESPN Complex. Here, they compete against the top cheer teams from all over the country. The hornets prepared to showcase their excellent skills and team spirit on February 9. 

This event marks many months of hard work and dedication as the Hornets bring their energy and excitement to a national stage. February 6, 2025, the sixteen-member cheer squad boarded a plane in Denver, Colorado, and headed to Florida. 

Erianna Arellano, junior, explains, "The hardest part of preparing for this competition is probably mentally and physically preparing yourself as well as teammates to work the hardest we ever have to achieve our goals and to put out an amazing performance.”
The Hornet’s journey to nationals demonstrates their commitment and passion for the sport. Throughout the year, the team has worked tirelessly to perfect their routines and show their spirit for the school. 
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Sophia Martinez, senior, said, "Through cheerleading, I have learned I am capable of being a role model and leader for my team." 
The Hornet's determination paid off as they placed fourteenth in the nation, an accomplishment for a team that has spent the past year working to perfect their performances and push their limits. 

By Kinley Watada

Pueblo County Student Council and DECA is starting a fundraiser for a previous Make-A-Wish kid, Cash Blanchfield. Cash was a Make-A-Wish kid at Pueblo County two years ago. He wished for a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in his backyard. Unfortunately, Cash was recently diagnosed with cancer. 
In response to this sad news DECA started up multiple fundraisers to help raise money for Cash and his family. During the Snowball assembly on February 3, 2025 they held a miracle minute. The miracle minute is where students donate any spare change or money for Cash. The total amount raised was $1,263!

Another fundraiser DECA is doing is a gift basket for Cash. One ticket is $1 and six tickets are $5. Buying a ticket puts the buyer’s name into the raffle for their name to be picked as the winner. If they win they get to keep the entire basket of gifts. The basket contains a weighted stuffed animal, two Mountain Dews, Owola water bottle 40 oz, $15 Starbucks gift card, $5 Subway gift card, super money gun, Avengers wall tumblr, short cabin socks, Bath and Body Works foaming hand soap, hydration body cream, two travel size hand sanitizers, Tuscany essential oil candle, shower steamers, GoGo Squeez fruit on the go, Orbit gum 3 pack, four million dollar chocolate bar, and an Adidas duffle bag. The raffle raised $669 with the winner being Marcus Cordova. 

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Posted on a PCHS Instagram account
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​The money goes towards Cash’s treatments. So far County has raised over $2000 and it’s still increasing.
 
To help Cash and his family make sure to donate! You can donate by putting spare or extra cash inside one of the jars located in the office and the DECA room. Anything helps.

By Addison Scott

The Super Bowl is the championship game for the National Football League. Different cities throughout the U.S. have hosted the games, either in January or February each year since 1967. In order to play in the Super Bowl teams must compete in the National Football Conference. 


This year the Super Bowl was between two reigning champions, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. 

The Chiefs were predicted to win and were highly favored after winning the past two Super Bowls, while having 17 wins and 2 losses. However, being the underdog doesn’t mean you can’t win. 

The Philadelphia Eagles are known for their incredible running plays. They had a standing of 17 wins and 3 losses throughout the season, which was almost tied with the Chief’s standings.

On Sunday, February 9, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. Super Bowl 59 took place at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Chiefs were unable to score until the third quarter. By halftime, the Eagles were in an amazing lead with the score 24-0. Eventually by the end of the game, the Eagles were the champions. Winning their second superbowl in history, having an overall score 40-22.  

This year the NFL’s Entertainment team chose Grammy Award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar to perform during the Super Bowl halftime show, along with special guest star, SZA. The duo was a fan favorite for singing one of their songs called “All The Stars.” That wasn't the only big hit song executed within the show. Lamar, name-dropped Drake, another popular rapper, when singing his song “Not Like Us.” This has caused mixed reviews due to the ongoing war between the two singers.  Gianna Azar, freshman,  says, “It was a decent performance. They had good songs and dances, but it was hard to understand and hear the words they were saying. Overall I was impressed with the performance this year but hopefully, it is better next year.” Kendrick was then able to achieve 133.5 million viewers, standing as the most streamed Apple Music Halftime show ever.

Kendrick and SZA weren't the only people to get the attention though. President of the United States Donald Trump made a surprise visit to the game. He was then labeled the first president to ever watch the Big Game within the dome. The event gained a ton of publicity, reaching all over America as it was a surprise that the Eagles were able to defeat the Chiefs, taking their title. 

By Madilynn Wilcox
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On Feb 12, 2025 Pueblo County High School held its’ annual eighth grade night. Eighth grade night is an event that PCHS puts together where students and staff set up tables and show the incoming freshman everything county has to offer and all of its many clubs and activities. 

The eighth graders come from different schools from all over Pueblo and get to walk around and learn about the different clubs and organizations that PCHS has. There were multiple tables set up and many activities that the incoming freshman got to interact with. The event is a great way for them to figure out the layout of the school as well as give them a chance to pick and choose what classes they want to sign up for. 

Aside from all the clubs, organizations, and classes they get to learn about, it is also a good opportunity for them to learn about the different sports and fitness programs. They get to meet some of the coaches as well as some of the team members, if there are any students volunteering. 

Many of the eighth graders enjoyed getting to go and see all of the rooms and meeting some of the coaches and teachers. It was also important to them because they get to learn about a few of the rules and regulations. “I learned a lot of stuff about next year that I didn't know,” said eighth grader Aislynn Meyeres. 

Overall eighth grade night is a very important event and is a very helpful experience for the incoming freshman. Teaching not only the students something new, but the teachers a little something as well.

By: Brynnley Prijatel 

Technology Student Association (TSA) finals took place from Feb 13th through Feb 15. Some of the events that took place included on demand video, structural design, engineering, manufacturing prototypes, and children's stories. The events that Pueblo County won were On Demand Video Podcasts and Music Production. 
  
From Powerschool announcements:

In the daily announcements this week, Senior Craig Allen informed us, “This past weekend Pueblo County's TSA Chapter experienced great success at the Colorado TSA State Competition. We had many semi-finalists and multiple students captured first, second, and third place. Please congratulate the following students for a job well done! First place Robotics Walker Gray, Cooper Jackson, and Eli Lewis. First place On Demand Video Manuel Bojorquez, Caprese Lisac, Lucas Lovato, Zach Mead, and Beckett Morgan. First place Extemporaneous Speech Daniel Padilla. Second place Silent Movie Blake Anderson, Manuel Bojorquez, Dominic Dostal, Marcus Maes, Zach Mead, and Beckett Morgan. Second place Audio Podcasting Blake Anderson, Troy Moore, James Rothbaum, and Rocco Toussaint. Third place Transportation Modeling Madison Kersten.”

Samantha Gray, TSA instructor at Pueblo County explains, “As a teacher preparing for the state conference, I am stressed! I know how hard my students work and how much they want to win. Sometimes, things just don't go in our favor and all of that hard work isn't represented in the awards. Projects fail, students forget portfolios or someone else just edges them out for the win. Emotions run wild. I am always filled with dread that I forgot something vital to a competition. I feel anxiety mixed with anger and sadness sometimes when things don't go our way. The immense sense of pride is always there. No matter what happens, I am always proud of PCHS students. They represent our school in positive ways, show professionalism, and are just fun to spend time with. I wouldn't trade my role as an advisor to my students for anything!”

Overall, the TSA final is a stressful, but exciting time that students and teachers prepare for all year around. 

By: Brynnley Prijatel
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District 70 builds in snow days at the beginning of each year. 

Due to the increasing risks during the winter. The school districts are not stingy about handing out snow days. It is harder for busses to run their routes and the road conditions are usually a predictable closure. Most students enjoy snow days, but do they enjoy adding extra minutes to the end of their day? 

Sophomore Tylee Glenn states, “I only enjoy snow days when the roads aren't too bad and I can go out and do something or be productive. I don't like that we have to add extra time to our school days because I feel as if students and staff are already here long enough. Many people have a life outside of school and work and I think that adding extra time takes away from other things that we enjoy doing.” 

Snowdays can be a refreshing break from the repetitive schedule. But, with the good also comes bad. Pueblo County High students had a relaxing bunch of snow days after the winter break. 

Denis Urban explains we have used six snow days, she explains we only had five snow days

Students were shocked with the amount of snowdays given in such a short period. District 70 has decided to add extra minutes to the day beginning on February 10, 2025. They decided to add extra minutes to the beginning and to the end of the day instead of adding more days to the school year. 

Freshman Logan Cipriani states, “I only like snow days when my alarms don’t go off and I sleep in. I would prefer that we go one or two days on Fridays so I don’t have to wake up earlier.”  

By: Madilynn Wilcox

Rocky Mountains Quiz Kids is a half hour television game show, exclusively on SOCO CW and FOX21. It features students from local high schools competing in tournaments to test their knowledge.

The Quiz Kid games are like games of jeopardy with a twist of four players on a team instead of one.
This is the first year Pueblo County High School competed in the competition. The way PCHS got into the competition was by emailing the coordinator science teacher Christopher Ludwig, they only knew about this because they were knowledgeable. 

They met at Fox21 SocoCW studios in Colorado Springs and spent the next two days there. They went to the studio three times in total; twice on Saturdays and once on Sunday. They made it to the final round of competition and placed 2nd out of 25 teams, earning a 2nd place prize of $3500.

“My favorite memory is from the final game. Our team had built up a great rapport with the game's host, news anchor Scott Kilbury, and were very easy-going around him, cracking jokes and generally making him laugh. When we lost the final game by missing a couple of questions, Scott seemed genuinely sad that we lost and I'm pretty sure we were his favorite team the way he went out of his way to say how great the team was for their 2nd place finish.”- Mr. Christopher Ludwig

Mr. Ludwig is a science and technology teacher at PCHS. Quiz Kids is nothing new to Mr. Ludwig, with him being involved in programs such as TSA, the Technology Student Association, and Knowledge Bowl. He joined Pueblo County in 2022 and since then has cemented himself as a proud member of the hornet team.  

“My favorite thing about this team is that it gives my Knowledge Bowl students a televised audience to show off how smart they are. Usually we do really well in our regular competitions and no one hears about it, but the Quiz Kids have actually run into people in public that recognized them from the TV show. It's nice for them to be recognized for how smart they are.”- Mr. Christopher Ludwig

The students that are involved have expressed how much they enjoy the club and hope that it will continue to be a thing, here is a quote from one of the students involved, “I enjoyed it very much, I found the experience very stimulating, exhilarating, and exciting. The fun we had there is not easily matched.”-John Guerrero. This club has sparked interests in many students and has left those who participated in it hungry for more.  

By  Laura Segura

The Pueblo County High School Snowball Dance, sponsored by DECA, was held on Saturday, Feb. 1,  in the auxiliary gym. The theme was A Wonderful Night on Olympus. The night was filled with people taking pictures, friends celebrating and plenty of dancing. 

On Jan. 30,  DECA had planned to hold an assembly to honor and congratulate the Snowball King nominees, but mother nature had other plans and surprised everyone with a snow day. This left the assembly to be rescheduled to Fed 3rd. The Snowball nominees were senior Patrick Noga, senior Quincy Arellano, senior Callan Bowman, senior Craig Allen, senior Chase Ginther, and senior Manuel Bojorquez. They announced the Snowball King at the dance with Craig Allen being the winner. As the nominees were congratulated at the assembly a video by Manuel played that shared the nominees childhood memories in a very lighthearted and comedic  After the video the Jazz band performed a cover of  “Tank!” by Yoko Kanno and Seatbelts. When the assembly was reaching its end DECA held a miracle minute to help raise money for a forming make a wish kid Cash Blanchfield. The total amount raised was $1263 the day of the assembly and $500 the day after. Totaling to $1763 in cash. 

By Imajin Woodson

Before Pueblo County High School students returned from winter break, a new district-wide, “No Phone Policy” was announced via emails and on social media, making an abrupt change throughout classes. Making teachers pleased and students disappointed.
 
The policy states, “Students in grades 9 – 12 are prohibited from using personal electronic devices during instructional time. Instructional time includes the entire period of a scheduled class and other times when students are directed to report to and participate in any instructional activity.” 

Multiple teachers in PCHS have had many issues with students being on their phones during class time. Science teacher Mrs. Gribble says, “I think it is a good policy to have in place so cell phones are not disrupting learning in the classroom.” Some teachers have never had an issue with phones because they own phone caddies in the back of the classroom until class is over. 
A great deal of good feedback comes from teachers but what about the students? Jackie Knox of sophomore year says, “I think the policy is dumb. I don’t like getting yelled at for having my phone in the hall and I honestly never even put my phone away.”  Currently, more than half of US teens spend more than 7 hours a day using their phones, and the majority of that time is spent during school. Although having a phone out is prohibited, some students still disregard the policy and keep using their phones during class hours. 

The only question we are left with is: Will this phone policy stay strict for the rest of the year, or will teachers soon give up after multiple students continue to rebel?