Battle of the Sexes

Jerry Lozano, 12, gives his opinion about the Battle of the Sexes this year overall as one of the hosts of the event. “I feel like this year was my favorite Battle of the Sexes and that the students also seemed to enjoy it very much,” Lozano said. “The energies were all high ‘til the very end.”

Alexis Gutierrez, Writer
April 9, 2018

From March 26-30 Downey high hosted the annual Battle of the Sexes week. The Battle of the Sexes is entire week which is a competition to both fundraise money for TLC as well as a competition for boys and girls to prove which gender is best.

The Battle of the Sexes week leads up to a rally on Thursday night, during the rally there is an annual heel race where students have put money towards four male and four female teachers, these teachers then do a relay race in heels, this year the male teachers won the heel race and the competition, with Mr. Hobbs coming in a mere few seconds before Mrs. A.

Juan Gonzalez 12, and vice president of the Stop the Traffik club, and helper coordinator of the Battle of the Sexes week.

“Since this is my senior year, I’m really hoping that the legacy for this event can continue and keep going, since it helps TLC and it’s really enjoyable for all the students.” Gonzalez stated.

For the last four years, downey high school club, Stop the Traffik, had partnered up with Downey ASB and coordinated to make a Battle of the Sexes possible, they sold t-shirts and continually prompted students to donate towards a teacher. The total money donated towards the teacher for the heel race alone was over $7,000.

Eric Bradfield, competitor in the heel race speaks on his experience of running in heels.

“I don’t usually do competitions like that, like running in heels” Bradfield said. “But I was selected to do it, it was really fun my family came and my kids came, they all had a great time”.

The rally has 14 games where the boys and girl vikes compete to gain points for the winning score. Some of the games included, vine recognition and performing, spelling out the word body with students bodies, the hungry hippos game with balloons and more.

Both the dance team and the Cheer team performed their routines at the rally, there was a team of “manleaders” who also performed a routine along with a stunt.

Julian Reyes 11, Battle of the Sexes attendee, speaks his opinion on the man-leaders go a cheer routine.

“It was really crazy to see a comparison of the man-leaders to the actual cheerleaders,” Reyes stated. “The actual cheerleaders looked so sharp and precise while the boys looked so, bent and messy, it was better then one would have expected though so I’ll give them that.”

The event is followed the next day by a Powder Puff game at 6pm at Downey Highs stadium. Students dress up through the week to show school spirit for the upcoming game, Monday was Classy Vs Bummy, Tuesday Denim vs. Leather, Wednesday Nike vs Adidas and Thursday Pink vs Blue, and Friday as Viking Pride.

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About the Contributors

Alexis Gutierrez, Writer

As a returning Downey Legend news staff member, Alexis Gutierrez, 12, plans to expose more of what Downey High School has to offer. “I returned to newspaper because explaining new aspects of school life has really put me out there,” Gutierrez said. “I can't wait to continue discovering downey's little stories.”

When I first met Alexis Gutierrez we did not get along whatsoever. We share the same opinions, but for the most part we are very different people. In the beginning we constantly argued in a manner that was not friendly at all. We would constantly get on eachothers nerves to the point where I think both of us would get irritated solely by looking at the others face. However, as time passed by we slowly—and I mean very slowly—developed a friendship. Alexis may be very opinionated and outspoken, but I’ve learned to appreciate her for it. Plus we have pretty much all the same opinions so that helps. As opposed to myself Alexis takes pride in her work and puts forth all her effort to do a great job. She has no fear in sharing her opinions and voicing her concerns which really impresses me. She can easily accomplish any task put in front of her and I have no doubt in her ability to accomplish any goal of hers. I consider Alexis a vital part of The Downey Legend and I am grateful for all the arguments we’ve had so far. Alexis Gutierrez is as corny as it sounds an independent and candid person who can do most if not all things she sets her mind to. She also never failed to call me out on my malarkey, so she should be thanked for that.

-Jesus Aguayo Cerda

Brenda Melara, Writer

After coming to the United States from El Salvador at the age of 15, Brenda Melara, 12, shares her passion for traveling. “The traveling from coming to the United States from El Salvador really gave me a passion for traveling and it is one thing I would want to do in the future and learning new languages as well,” Melara said. “August 28, 2017 will be 2 years since I came from El Salvador.”