Activities

Southwest Shadow Wins Gold

March 29, 2012 | Author: Mr. Ball

Recently Southwest Career and Technical Academy participated in a critique from Columbia Scholastic Press Association. The competition was open to any school with a digital publication and several other schools did well. However, the Southwest Shadow, our student-generated digital newspaper, was awarded as a Gold Medalist receiving 918 points out of a possible 1000.

Judges commented on the impressive online publication and indicated that the Southwest Shadow homepage was very attractive. Additionally, the Coyote Call feature and topic diversity is acknowledged as relevant and excellent. Due to the various sources of interactivity on the website, outstanding scores were given for that section. All in all, the judge recognized the hard work and time devoted for the website and awarded the Southwest Shadow a Gold Medal for publishing an outstanding digital newspaper.

The CSPA critique was a way to understand where the Southwest Shadow currently stands and how to improve upon the several assets that we are currently working on. Students stated “To us, receiving this award is truly amazing and is evidence of the hard work we continue to do every day, even with the yearbook. It gives us a satisfying feeling to know we’re being awarded for our dedication and commitment.”

Students also jokingly commented that “putting up with Mr. LaPorte is one accomplishment” and continued by saying “but to be given gold is one that tops all achievements so far within journalism. With this award, we just know that we’re improving and will continue to improve with hope for the best. After all, journalism is a lifestyle to us.”

Congratulations to the Southwest Shadow and all the hard work the students have put in. We’re looking forward to seeing more great work from them.

FCCLA Competes at State

March 21, 2012 | Author: Mr. Ball

This year the FCCLA Design Academy students participated in the Nevada State Competition. Listed below are some of the events students participated in. All of these events are called STAR Events.

STAR Events (Students Taking Action with Recognition) are competitive events in which members are recognized for proficiency and achievement in chapter and individual projects, leadership skills, and career preparation. STAR Events offer individual skill development and application of learning through the following activities:
Cooperative – teams work to accomplish specific goals
Individualized – members work alone to accomplish specific goals
Competitive – individual or team performance measured by an established set of criteria.

Fashion Design which is an individual event and recognizes participants who apply fashion design skills learned in Family and Consumer Sciences courses to design and market clothing styles. Interior Design is an individual or team event that recognizes participants who apply interior design skills to design interiors that meet the living space needs of clients. Life Event Planning is an individual or team event and recognizes participants who apply their skills to manage the costs of an event. Recycle and Redesign is an individual event that recognizes participants who select a used fashion or home apparel item to recycle into a new product.

This year the SWCTA FCCLA team came out strong and the results speak for themselves. Here’s what the students had to say for themselves:

“I am so proud of my accomplishments and earning a Gold medal too!” and “FCCLA has changed my life.”

Gold Medals:
Tamira Cummings – Chapter T-Shirt, Chapter Banner
Leslie Frascella – Interior Design
Yoana Penelova – Interior Design
Ivelina Karaivanuva – Interior Design

Silver Medals:
Danielle Fascella – Fashion Design
Leah Irwin – Recycle & Redesign
Jordan Sutton – Life Event Planning
Betty Theodros – Life Event Planning

Bronze Medals:
Sheila Diezmo – Recycle & Redesign
Amber LaFleur – Interior Design

Alexis Morales, Amber LaFleur, and Maddie Bodden were elected FCCLA State Officers for the 2012-2013 school year. We know they will do a terrific job representing SWCTA.

Let’s Go to Knott’s Berry Farm!

March 15, 2012 | Author: Mr. Ball

On Saturday April 21st, we will be embarking on a fun and exciting school-wide trip to Knott’s Berry Farm! It will be a fantastic way for students to bond and have a memorable time with their classmates. The cost of the trip is a very reasonable $75 which includes a meal at the park and all fees. All paperwork and a $20 deposit must be paid by March 30th to reserve a seat on this trip. (there will be NO exceptions) We will depart SWCTA at approximately 4am on April 21st and return at approximately 1am on April 22nd.

Although any SWCTA student will be able to attend, students that are the winners of the Spring PBL Showcase will win a free trip and any money that they have deposited will be reimbursed back to them. If you have any questions about this trip, feel free to ask any staff member or stop by the Partnership office for more information and to pick up your paperwork. See you on April 21st!

Fashion Wins Big Again!

March 12, 2012 | Author: Mr. Ball

On Saturday March 10th, Juniors from the Fashion Design program competed in the Junior League of Las Vegas’ Fashion Forward: Prom Party Fashion Challenge. 64 of Las Vegas’ best and brightest fashion students competed in this annual event at Fashion Show Mall on the Las Vegas Strip. The contest limits students to a $50 budget for materials and is themed toward the high school Prom Dance.

Several SWCTA students took place in the competition and we had 3 winners come out on top. Keely Gallagher won 3rd Place Overall, Demi Vo won Most Age Appropriate, and Gabrielle Jauregui won Most Fashion Forward. Congratulations to our winners and all of the participants for their amazing work.

Bridge Builders Fall Short

March 12, 2012 | Author: Mr. Ball

On Saturday March 10th, 6 Sophomores competed in the UNLV Bridge Building Contest. Here is an excerpt from Mr. McElroy, our Engineering and Automotive Technologies Teacher.

“John Duriman, Mehaki Asare, Bryan Cardenas, Marquis Johnson, Redd Samiento, and Sofia Valles from my sophomore POE class competed in the UNLV Bridge contest last Saturday. All of the entries did very well but the competition was fierce and we were unable to make the top 10. However, our students were exceptional in their demeanor and enthusiasm. As we left, all they could talk about is how to improve thier designs for next year. I am very proud of them and each deserves our congratulations.”

Danny McElroy
SWCTA

FIDM Challenge

March 7, 2012 | Author: Mr. Ball

Participants in The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) Challenge were tasked to help to further the awareness and understanding of sustainability in textile related products by creating a runway worthy garment using previously used fabrics or garments. Participants created a runway-worthy garment from previously used fabrics and/or garments and then created a marketing campaign focusing on sustainable fashion. The cost of materials to create the garment could not exceed $20. Challenge participants then made presentations to FIDM executives and instructors via videos posted on YouTube.

Of the many worthy submissions, SWCTA had 5 teams finish in the top 10! Sheila Diezmo and Gaby Jauregui took home 3rd place while Mikayla Marrujo, Cassidy Simpson, and Valeria Martinez took home the top prize. Amazing job once again by our outstanding Fashion Design program.

SWCTA Top 10 Teams:

Anna Cetic, Nikki Gronau, Gina Cervone
Jennifer Gregorio, Aleasha Green, Mariah Hillman
Jenny Berry, Leenah Baghdoyan
Mikayla Marrujo, Cassidy Simpson, Valeria Martinez
Sheila Diezmo, Gaby Jauregui

SkillsUSA Competition

March 5, 2012 | Author: Mr. Ball

On Saturday March 3, 5 SWCTA Automotive Technology students competed in the SkillsUSA regional automotive competition. Each school in the region can have up to 5 students compete in this competition. To determine the top 20 canidates they score the written test and keep the top scores to go on to hands on testing.

Students started at 8 AM with a 100 question test related to the 8 ASE areas of an automobile. In the hands on testing area the students work at stations judged by an industry person or an instructor. Stations are again targeted at the 8 ASE areas. Students have 10 minutes to diagnose, repair, or identify components tested at the station. After the 10 minutes the student moves to the next station until he completes all the stations.
After all the students complete their testing all the scores are added up and 1st through 14th place are announced. SWCTA had Zach Miller win 2nd place, Zack Crivello win 4th place, Tyler Jackson win 5th place, and Kane Arthur win 11th place. SWCTA also won 1st Place in the Region due to the students’ outstanding efforts. These students will also go on to the State competition April 25 – 27 up in Reno. 1st through 3rd place winners also received medals, and tools at the Regional competition.

At the State competition the students will go through a similar testing as done in the regional. Only a bit tougher and longer, 8 AM to 4 PM. Here the South competes against the North. The winner of the competition will then move on to Nationals. At Nationals the student does a similar competition as State and Regional except now against the best from each state.

The winner of National then gets to compete Internationally. Every 2 years a country will be elected to host the International SkillsUSA competition.

Their are several locations to learn more about SkillsUSA. The main site is SkillsUSA.org

Coyote U-Night Committee Meeting 2/28

February 29, 2012 | Author: Mr. Ball

In case you missed the meeting on 2/28 after school in the library, here are the notes from our meeting.

As you can see we have split up activities and job duties into committees to help organize each one. If you are interested in getting involved or would like more information on a particular committee, please speak with the committee chair that is listed on the notes. We hope that everyone gets involved to make Coyotes U-Night 2012 even better than last year’s great event.

DECA State Conference

February 27, 2012 | Author: Mr. Ball

On February 16th and 17th, the SWCTA DECA chapter took on all comers at the Nevada State DECA Conference. SWCTA had 190 members attend and compete in a variety of events. Of the 190 competing students, an astounding 65% of students received awards. Not to mention awards such as Largest Nevada DECA Chapter and DECA Advisor of the Year- Perry Annett.

Attached is a list of all of our winning students.

Archery Places 3rd At State

February 13, 2012 | Author: Mr. Ball

On February 9th, the Archery Team once again competed in the State Tournament with success. A strong showing gave the Coyotes 2944 points, a mere 148 behind the leader Fallon Young Bowen who scored 3092. Despite not finishing first, the Coyotes scored enough points to qualify for the National Tournament being held in Kentucky.

Two girls scored well enough to land in the top 5 with Vivien Hau coming in 3rd with a score of 251 and Terri Dang in 5th with a score of 247. Kavindu Amarasinghe shot a score of 272 which was tied with the 4th and 5th place top male shooters, but due to the tie breaker rule, he placed 6th overall.

Those unfamiliar with Archery tournaments should know that a perfect score is 300 with points coming from 3 rounds of 5 arrows at the 10 meter line and another 3 rounds of 5 coming from the 15 meter line. Judging by the scores the athletes posted, they did quite well. But always hungry for more, they expect to have a stronger showing next year and will continue to improve from their experiences competing at this level of competition.