Category: Profile

Sophomore spotlight: Emonie’s career goals

Sophomore spotlight: Emonie’s career goals

By Edward R. Emonie B. is a sophomore at CATS with big dreams. She wants to go to college, do engineering, and get her diploma. After college Emonie has her mind set on the career path she wants to go down.  Emonie has two picks for colleges she wants to attend: USC for basketball and Clark Atlanta University for its community vibe.  “Clark is an HBCU, and I would love to be around more people that are like me,” she says.  As for USC, she dreams of playing basketball professionally.  “USC has a great basketball team, I

Junior spotlight: Jocelyn the nail artist

By Rene H. If you ask 11th grader Jocelyn what her favorite hobby is she would say it was her nail business because that’s what she has a passion for doing.  Her nail business is what she did to keep herself entertained during quarantine.  She also said “I always had a passion for nails and being creative” so this would also distract her from other things.  Her passion for nails came from seeing other nail techs and her creativity because she believed she was able to make many designs with what she thought would look pretty.

Profile: Mr. Mandujano’s love for math

Profile: Mr. Mandujano’s love for math

By Joseph C. From a young age, Albert Mandujano found his love for math early on and now, as a math coach, he shares the power and knowledge of this complex subject with his community.  “I would say that math explains almost everything that happens in the world,” he said.  While math for many is their least favorite subject in school, Mandujano found his love for math around middle school when working at his grandma’s mini market.  While working at his grandma’s mini market, he would do lots of different tasks such as stocking items, being

Profile: Ms. Haagen’s past as a gourmet chef

Profile: Ms. Haagen’s past as a gourmet chef

By Walter C. When Kimberly Haagen was younger, she proved to be quite mischievous towards her parents which got her grounded pretty often.  “Um, I think when I was about 12, I was still getting grounded. Especially for kicking the ball in the house,” she said. A rule in her house for whenever someone was grounded, they had to take care of preparing the food for three days minimum. “I was grounded a lot. So I became great at cooking,” she said. As her skills improved, she had an incredible idea, “So about 12 I started

Ms. Suarez given ‘Outstanding Teacher’ award and $10,000 prize

Ms. Suarez given ‘Outstanding Teacher’ award and $10,000 prize

By Gehenna N. “I feel so honored.” That’s what science teacher Ms. Michelle Suarez said when she was nominated for and given the award called “the Carlston Outstanding Teachers Of America” award. She was nominated by a former student of hers called Celeste G. who graduated back in 2018.  This award is only given to four teachers and Ms. Suarez was the youngest teacher to win it. “I feel so humbled and intimidated,” she shared. This is because teachers who have been nominated for the award have taught at least 20 to 30 years in their

Profile: Ms. Dorantes

Profile: Ms. Dorantes

By Xiomara A.   When Ms. Maria Dorantes was younger, she had to experience one of the hardest things in her life that nobody should have experienced at such a young age. Ms. Dorantes, a Spanish teacher at CATS, shared a personal story by explaining that one of the hardest things that had impacted the most in her life was her mom’s death. She said, “at the  age of 14, right when I started high school my mom passed away.” Not only impacted her personal life but also her academic one too by her starting to act

Mr. Monteon: Advisor for the Class of 2024

Mr. Monteon: Advisor for the Class of 2024

By Heyli G. Mr. Monteon is a graphic design teacher and most students will have him for at least one year out of their four years of high school. What most people don’t know, however, is that he is the senior advisor for the class of 2024 and it’s his first time being a class advisor.   Let’s take a look at his duties and responsibilities. Mr. Monteon goes with the flow when managing the senior class of 2024. He shared that, because there is no handbook or guide for how to do this, “This is

Profile: Photography Club

Profile: Photography Club

By Hector S. Everyone has a shot at photography – that’s the mission of the first photography club at Diego Rivera. Ms. Martinez, an English Language Development teacher and journalism teacher, started the club this year with the help of EduCare. Ms. Martinez, who taught photography at a Los Angeles non-profit called Las Fotos Project before becoming a teacher at CATS, reached out to Jaime Vega, the senior site coordinator for EduCare before the school year started. She said that she became interest in photography at a young age when her parents bought her a camera.

A “bittersweet” farewell to Mr. Romo

A “bittersweet” farewell to Mr. Romo

By Journalism 2 students: Xiomara A., Heyli G., Axel G., Salvador G., Ernesto H., Gehenna N., Omar R., Hector S. After six years of being at CATS and nine years at Diego Rivera Learning Complex, Mr. Rafael Romo is leaving. Mr. Romo, who was the senior site coordinator at the complex for the ACE initiative, said it was a “really hard decision to leave.” He explained that it wasn’t something he decided overnight. “For about 2 years it’s something that I’ve wanted to look for the next step for me so that I can grow professionally

Personal essay: My trip to the Philippines

Personal essay: My trip to the Philippines

By Heyli G. Going to the Philippines with my family was a once-out-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was something I never thought would happen.                       For the first week, we went to El Nido, Palawan. Palawan is a small island that took a 1-to 2-hour airplane ride and a 5-hour van ride to get there. In Palawan, for the first day we mostly spent it in the van ride and getting settled into the hotel. For the second to fourth day, we went island hopping. In island hopping, we

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