National Honor Society banquet does not disappoint

NHS seniors gather together receiving their stoles.

NHS seniors gather together after receiving their stoles.

On Thursday, June 3, the National Honor Society held its annual senior banquet at the Coto de Caza Golf and Racquet Club.

Dr. Burch, Mrs. Stegner, and president Alejandra Benitez recited their speeches to the members and their families during dinner. After dinner, the light blue National Honor Society stoles that are to be worn during graduation were presented.

“Presenting the stoles to the seniors tied everyone together after a great year and recognized them for their membership,” said Benitez. ”This year it was an especially close group of outstanding people.”

To end the evening, a picture slideshow, put together by junior Katherine Grabar, was projected. The slideshow featured photos of NHS members at various volunteer events such as mission trips to Mexico, bake sales and charity events.

“The slideshow really closed the night well,” gushed member Jenn Wynkoop. ”There were so many great pictures of all of us that I forgot we even took, and it made us sentimental.”

A lot of hard work was put into this, and that hardwork did not go unnoticed.

Although not all of the seniors and their families could attend, the banquet proved to be a successful night. A special thanks goes out to all of the faculty, members and parents who made this night possible.

Related Posts:

ASB looks for new recruits

Photo courtesy of www.TesoroASB.com

Photo courtesy of www.TesoroASB.com

This Friday, June 4, packets will be due from any Tesoro student hoping to join ASB for the 2010-2011 school year. If you missed the informational meeting, it is still possible to stop by the ASB room to get a packet. Interviews for all new hopefuls will begin next week.

“ASB is a great way to get involved in our school!” remarks ASB team member Shelby Strecker. ”Being on ASB means you get to make a difference at Tesoro, while having fun with friends at the same time. I highly encourage everyone to try out.”

A Splash of a Season

Sophomores Ali Barnes, Taylore King, and Megan O'Brien huddle together in the shallow end as the warm-up for their upcoming events.

Sophomores Ali Barnes, Taylore King, and Megan O'Brien huddle together in the shallow end as the warm-up for their upcoming events.

Tuesday, April 27 the Tesoro High School swim team had a meet against Aliso Niguel High School. It was a tough meet and unfortunately, all Tesoro teams lost. It was the team’s last meet before league finals, and overall it was a great season. The team won three of their five league meets.

The season was a chance for many swimmers to achieve the best times of their high school careers. Sophomore Ali Barnes achieved her auto CIF time in the 500-meter freestyle. Also great times from swimmers Taylore King, Olivia Evans, and captain Susie Kim, as well as many others, helped make the season a memorable one.

As junior Jasmine Hall said, “Swim season was tough this year and involved a lot of hard work, but it has all paid off and feels great now that the season is coming to an end.”

The season did have a few low points, such as a chemical imbalance in the water over spring break, which caused a few uncomfortable practices.

Senior Ashley Montgomery said, “Swimming in the pool with a pH imbalance is awful! I was so happy that the pool was able to be fixed so quickly.”

After many weeks of morning practice, two hour after school practices, Saturday practices, and many meets, the season has certainly been a long and tiresome one. It’s not over yet though, prelims are this week followed by finals, and then C.I.F. to finish the year. So make sure to wish all Tesoro swimmers luck this week!

Related Posts:

Tagged with:
 

Seniors make their college decisions

Today is April 30. April 30 is the day before May 1. May 1 is the deadline for seniors to submit their Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) to the college of their choice. The majority of students have already submitted their SIRs to their respective schools, but there are still those select few who are still deciding where they want to spend the next four years of their life.

For some, this decision was the easiest decision they have had to make over the past eighteen years of their lives. Surprisingly, some of the first to decide where they were going next year were the most indecisive ones, like Kelsey Brongo.

“I’m one of those people who has a hard time picking whether she wants the pink or the green toothbrush, but picking a college seemed like a no-brainer to me,” she admitted.

For a lot of people, the decision becomes much easier once visiting their potential picks, and that’s what made Brongo’s decision so easy. “I looked at a couple of the schools that I thought I might want to go to, and they all seemed nice, but when I visited University of Pennsylvania, I knew that’s where I wanted to be.”

(more…)

American Cultures takes a field trip to LA

Students Halie Whitfield, Mia Calabretta, Vinny Tangherlini, and Melanie Aldridge enjoy lunch at a small sushi restaurant.

Students Halie Whitfield, Mia Calabretta, Vinny Tangherlini, and Melanie Aldridge enjoy lunch at a small sushi restaurant.

On Wednesday, American Cultures took their annual field trip to Los Angeles to learn about Japanese history in America and immerse themselves in the Japanese culture.

Students from Mr. Woodward and Mrs. DiSomma’s first and third period classes took a train ride from Irvine to Union Station located in downtown LA.

Their first stop began at the 442nd Infantry World War II Memorial, with a short visit to see the stone monuments of the names of men who dedicated their service to the United States during WII in Europe.

Their main visit took place at the Japanese American National Museum, right across from LA’s famous Little Tokyo town. Before touring the actual museum, students were given a lesson on how to make Origami steamboats and shirts out of paper. After, the students broke out into groups with a tour guide and were taken around the museum. Each group was exposed to the various different aspects of beginning Japanese life in America and how they lived during WWII in relocation camps in the West.

“I thought it was really interesting how we all got to see insight from our tour guides, since they actually experienced the camp.” said junior Autumn Griffin.

After the hour-long tour, the students ended their trip by wandering the streets of Little Tokyo for lunch and shopping. Many experienced the Japanese culture by having sushi for lunch and the Japanese specialty of Mochi ice cream.

Related Posts:

 
Tagged with:
 

Why My Mom Deserves A Diamond Contest

Freshman Megan Mittleman is one of the 6 contest winners here at Tesoro. Because of her outstanding poem, she will receive a gemstone from the Gallery of Diamonds jewelry store.

Freshman Megan Mittleman is one of the 6 contest winners here at Tesoro. Because of her outstanding poem, she will receive a gemstone from the Gallery of Diamonds jewelry store.

Every year the Gallery of Diamonds jewelry in Newport Beach holds the “Why My Mom Deserves a Diamond” contest.

This contest began in 1993 by the founder of the store Michael Watson. It is the largest mothers writing contest in the nation. The contest is simple; write a poem saying why your mom deserves a diamond in 25 words or less. The poems are then read by a panel of contest judges who judge them based on their creativity, originality, and sincerity. The grand prize awarded for the very best poems, is a ¼ carat diamond.

First prize is an amethyst gemstone and second prize is an African Garnet gemstone. In this year’s contest many Tesoro freshman were awarded gemstones for their poems. The winners were Jordan Colombo, Weston Deane, Megan Mittleman, Jeannelle Schweitzer, Danielle Shinmoto, and Miranda Tate.

“The contest is exciting to enter because a lot of kids enter as well. I’ll definitely give the gemstone to my mom as soon as I get it,” winner and Tesoro freshman Danielle Shinmoto said.

 If you are interested in entering the contest next year, packets will be mailed to Tesoro in December of next year.

Related Posts:

Tagged with:
 

Spring blood drive fast approaching on March 24

After the success of the Red Cross blood drive last December, ASB is hosting the second of its biannual drives tomorrow March 24.

This season, ASB is eagerly hoping for more donations than the last. Despite the Red Cross’ strict height-to-weight ratios, and of course the understandable fear of needles that is rippling throughout the school, students and staff have been continually signing up to save lives. Sign ups will continue though March 23. Parents and staff are also encouraged to donate.

All proceeds will directly benefit Mission Hospital.

Related Posts:

Tagged with:
 

Take a trip with Snowboard and Ski Club

The snowboard and ski club is taking a trip to Big Bear Mountain this Friday, March 19.

The club needs at least 20 students to participate to book a bus, if less then 20 students decide to attend students will be required to drive themselves. If a bus is booked there will be a $75 ticket fee that will include the bus ride and lift ticket.

Big Bear Mountain contains all the elements that skiers and snowboarders love. The weather is looking great at a perfect 55 degrees on Friday, which keeps the snow on the slopes at a fresh powder. Don’t miss out on this exciting trip.

Contact Derek Sheldrake at (949) 246-0902 to RSVP and ask additional information.

Related Posts:

Tagged with:
 

Pi + .03 Day is a Success

Freshmen Bryan Le and Alexandra Ivanova, and Sophomore Taylore King, excitedly wait in line to serve themselves some delicious pumpkin pie.

Freshmen Bryan Le and Alexandra Ivanova, and Sophomore Taylore King, excitedly wait in line to serve themselves some delicious pumpkin pie.

Pi,  or the number approximated at 3.14, is a symbol commonly used in math classes from middle school and up.

 Because of the approximated number, it has come to be represented by the day March 14th or 3/14. This occurred last Sunday, but Mrs. Bowen’s third period Pre-calculus class had their celebration a little late on Wednesday.

At first, the Pi day celebration was started as a secret signup sheet passed around the class on Monday for people to bring food to class. Mrs. Bowen discovered the plan for the party and decided to approve it — after all, this math related holiday could not go unnoticed.

The kids spent the first half hour of class earning the chance to get pie for their rows by answering mental math questions presented by Mrs. Bowen, then celebrated with desserts including pie, running the gamut from pumpkin to chocolate to banana cream pie.

“Pi day was really fun and delicious. It was a fantastic use of class time!” commented Sophomore Zach Levine.

Party Planner Carrick Reddin agreed the day was a success, saying “Pi day was a sweet day full of scrumptious fun and it was Pie-tastic!”

After they finished getting their pie, the class had to return to regular math notes, but they were all satisfied with the delectable food they got to enjoy during class. It was definitely one of the most exciting days in math of the year.

“Pie day made me feel as round as a circle!” said Sophomore Taylore King after testing three different types of pie along with cookies.

Related Posts:

 
The girls swim team are free to practice any of the four strokes that they might be entered in at the next upcoming meet.

The girls swim team are free to practice any of the four strokes that they might be entered in at the next upcoming meet.

The swim team has a meet against Huntington Beach high school this afternoon. Boys and girls’ Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Open will be competing, arranged into events which are subdivided into heats.

The meet will begin around 3:30 p.m. at the Titan pool. Swimmers will be entered in events ranging from the 200 individual medley relay, to the 500 yard freestyle.

Come out and support the team by being the loudest fans in the stands, and don’t be afraid to get wet!