By: Imajin Woodson

Homecoming is approaching, and Pueblo County High is starting to prepare themes and decor for the school halls. 

Each hall has its own exclusive theme. For the freshman Hall the theme is, “Snow”, the sophomore all’s theme is “Ice”, the junior hall is “Fire,” and the senior hall theme is, “Fire & Ice.” On Oct. 6, 2024 at 1-4 p.m. Student Council will start decorating.

Senior Andre Murrah said, “One of the biggest factors of being able to decorate the halls for homecoming is being able to prepare as a school but bring the excitement towards the dance it self.”

Homecoming will be held on Oct. 12, 2024, from 8-9 p.m. Tickets are $15 for singles and $20 for couples. 

Freshman, Jordan Vigil says, “I’m looking forward to HOCO because I get to hang out with my girlfriend and see the crowd.”

Interested in helping? Show up. Help is appreciated.

By Madi Wilcox                                              

Pueblo County High talent show is sponsored by The Arts Academy. Drama teacher Mrs. Taylor Morgan, formerly known as Ms Gillman, finds talented participants from our community. The Talent Show is scheduled for Tuesday Oct 2, 2024 at County High School, It is during homeroom.  

 “Drama class is so exciting because I get to see everyone come out of their shells or continue to grow,” said Morgan. She also loves watching the kids grow out of their shells. 

Sophomore Kinley Watada said, “My favorite part of the talent show was the sixth hour rock band The Rat Babies, they played a rock version of careless whisper. It gave me chills when I heard one of the lead singers begin to sing. It was definitely really fun and enjoyable to watch and listen too”

Drama is many students' favorite class as well as favorite thing to do. There are many showcases and performances too. This week is a talent show run by Morgan. Students participating in this performance  showed off their wonderful talents. The talent show is exciting for many students because it gives them a chance to show off their impressive talents. 

“I absolutely adore every activity in advanced drama, but the thing I look forward to the most each year is the annual Thespian Conference in Denver,” said Senior Percy Coughlin. 

By Kinley Watada

    Every year during football season The Pueblo County Hornets participate in The Pigskin Classic. The Pigskin game is the rivalry game between PCHS and Pueblo West High School. The Thunderbowl Stadium at Colorado State University-Pueblo hosted the game at 7 p.m. on August 30, 2024. 

The incoming Parkview helicopter landed in the stadium to deliver the game ball, Two helicopter pilots that work for Parkview emerged from the helicopter with the football for the game.
 and things went wild from there and throughout the night. 
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 The County Rowdy student crowd went with the western theme. The fans roared  while they were all decked out in cowboy boots, hats and flannels. 

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This year at the 24th annual pigskin, PCHS won the Friday Night Blitz Spirit award at the Pigskin game.

“I've been a part of every Pigskin as a player, coach or ball boy, except for the one in 2018. I love the atmosphere of the game. Playing in front of 10,000 plus fans is something not many people get to do so it's fun for everyone involved.” said Coach Ramon Enriquez.
    
The game ended with a score of 41-0, the winner being Pueblo West.
“You are only in high school once, you should be doing high school things, you have the rest of your lives to work. Take advantage of the opportunity to play in front of 10k+ fans.” stated Coach Enriquez. 

The Pigskin Classic is a traditional expectation, and an enjoyable experience to look back upon. The spirit week and other activities that lead up to the Pigskin are always something to look forward to.

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By Imajin Woodson

When you watch a play what is the first thing that comes to mind when you see flashing lights, props, the background, and even the actor's clothes? The audience often overlooks these things.

Do you ever wonder who constructed the outfits, or moved the lights? The technical theater crew at Pueblo County High School works hard to enhance your experience during plays, or band concerts. 

Senior Willow Stephenson said, “Technical theater members rarely interact with the audience, we serve behind the scenes. Our job is to immerse the audience in the show without them ever knowing.”

“People who love theater will love this club. I was drawn to costuming because of my interest in historical fashion. Honestly, anyone with creative interests would fit in well,” adds Stephenson. 

    Now that you know about the mysteries of plays, will you start to think more about the technical theater crew? Maybe you even got a spark of interest in joining the club! 
 

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By Colt Antle
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On Sept. 19, 2024, the Pueblo County High School advanced drama club held an improv murder mystery dinner fundraiser in the commons area. There guests were served a meal of pepperoni dip sticks while the cast performed an improvised story both for and with the audience. 

The narrative in question was a tale about a middle school science fair where the science teacher accidentally inhaled some chemicals from one of the nearby experiments and died because of it. Though it was later revealed that she just ended up passing out from the chemicals, not dying.
 
One cast member Jackson Dilka, junior, had this to say about the event, “It was a lot of fun, although a bit nerve racking because a big portion of the show was coming up with something on the fly to try and make people laugh.” 

Dilka has a bit of history with the drama club, having done the spring musical just a year prior and with plans to audition for the upcoming fall play, “Peter and the Star Catcher”. “I was super excited going in. I've been an audience member for the murder mystery before and it was a blast, so I knew being one of the actors and getting to engage with the audience would be a treat.” 

I aksed, “Is this something you could see yourself doing again?” 

“One hundred percent yes. Getting to perform in front of a big audience with my friends was an incredibly fun experience and I would definitely recommend joining the advanced drama class to anyone who wants to try it.” said Dilka.
The annual murder mystery fundraiser is something that is looked forward to by everyone in attendance. It is an experience that every cast member, both new and old, cherishes and views as a valuable experience. This is a view that Dilka shares as well, “I think we all did an amazing job. PCHS has by far the best drama program in all of Pueblo and that is in large part thanks to our amazing actors.”

By Laura Segura and Colt Antle

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The Internet is one of the most important things to have in a school to have a positive learning experience. When it comes to daily warm up assignments, everyday computer assignments, and tests like NWEA, SAT it's very important to have a good connection with the internet. Recently Pueblo County High School's internet has been irregular, with computers crashing daily, teachers changing lesson plans, and work becoming late. It causes lots of stress on our faculty, teachers and students. In the Pueblo County area, signals can be hard to reach due to being far out.  Freshman Leann Troutt quotes that “It’s a disturbance when I am very focused on my work and an internet issue comes up, making me lose track.” 

Given how most school districts depend so heavily on technology, to the point where most if not all classes students take are solely revolving around technology, most would assume said technology or programs in use would be more reliable. Programs such as NWEA and College Board have been failing, leaving students stuck in a monotonous loop of loading, refreshing, restarting, signing in, repeat. While some students have been successful with College Board, others have had to go out of their way to communicate with them and alert them of the issue which really shouldn’t be there to begin with. Communication is another problem with accessing the internet. Sometimes IT support systems, and customer service won’t respond to student's or teacher’s complaints, or they just take a long time to get to them

Just recently Judy Fodor, teacher of AP English, Journalism and Yearbook, tried administering a NWEA test to her AP English classes, but had a mountain of trouble to deal with. Most of her students could only manage to get up to question to the first couple of questions, thanks to how the program had been working and  how the internet has been running. “It feels like I am losing critical instructional time with students. It doesn't matter which app or platform we use, there are always several who ‘ ‘can't get on’ and it is frustrating for the student as well - especially when you apply the term ‘test’ to it. I'm sure that causes the students anxiety. It does for me,” said  Fodor. This is all especially irritating given the genuine benefits that online work can offer to students.  For example,  if a student were to fall ill they have access to most of what they missed on their devices. 

When asked if she finds there to be any benefits to having most of school be online Fodor commented,“Yes, there are many benefits. Students need to learn to use technology responsibly and as an educational tool while at school. Our district provides a great service to our students. For every student to have access to the internet is an awesome concept. Limit cell phone usage in the classroom for starters. Almost every student has a cell phone with several apps open all day long, and on their computers while on their phones. It is a lot to expect any school staff member to monitor every individual student's account while at school. They are supposed to be working on assignments, but they are watching videos, and playing games, and chatting with friends, and listening to Spotify. etc. That might be why we can't ‘get on’ the internet.”

Having an irregular connection, with teachers being frustrated with no connection, students assignments becoming late and everything in overall being a huge mess, it is clear connection is a must have in our school.  Fodor encapsulates the struggles and rewards of the dependence PCHS has on favorable connection, “I enjoy online discussion and writing tools, but there is always the plagiarism issue with some. It is too easy to cheat, and it is really easy to spot.” Overall, the internet is a huge need in our school to pursue our education and how teachers conduct their classrooms.

By: Imajin Woodson
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When you watch a play what is the first thing that comes to mind when you see flashing lights, props, the background, and even the actor's clothes? The audience often overlooks these things.

Do you ever wonder who constructed the outfits, or moved the lights? The technical theater crew at Pueblo County High School works hard to enhance your experience during plays, or band concerts. 

Senior Willow Stephenson said, “Technical theater members rarely interact with the audience, we serve behind the scenes. Our job is to immerse the audience in the show without them ever knowing.”

“People who love theater will love this club. I was drawn to costuming because of my interest in historical fashion. Honestly, anyone with creative interests would fit in well,” adds Stephenson. 

Now that you know about the mysteries of plays, will you start to think more about the technical theater crew? Maybe you even got a spark of interest in joining the club! 
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