Battles of the sexes

On April 30, Downey High School’s ASB and Stop the Traffick club organize a Battle of the Sexes night rally to fundraise for sex trafficking awareness and introduce spring sports teams. The man-leaders performed a routine along side the cheerleaders in order to see which sex dominated the cheer game.

Mia Dixon-Slaughter, Co-Editor-in-Cheif
May 29, 2015

The week of the night rally students were encouraged to participate in the Versus spirit week by dressing up each day. Each day was a different versus theme. The days included cowboys versus Indians, super heroes versus villains, 50s versus 70s, blue versus pink and Viking Pride Day.

Junior, and ASB Pep and Spirit Commissioner, Rebecca Cardenas explained she wanted this week to stand out from other spirit weeks.

“I liked this spirit week because it was different than the others,” Cardenas said. “We really wanted to try something new and get the students excited about something new so they would want to get involved.”

Students attended the gym on Thursday night in either pink or blue to support the sex of their choice. The rally included games such as a donut-eating contest, a life-size version of Hungry Hungry Hippo, a balloon popping contest and a heel race.

Senior Dylan Moreno participated in the giant tic-tac-toe game, which required each team to compete against each other in a game of tic-tac-toe on the gym floor in relay race form. Students were require to walk to the center of the gym, put down their “x” or “o” in the desired spot and return to their team to tag the next player, all while resisting the urge to run.

“The tic-tac-toe game was my favorite,” Moreno said. “The rules and regulation made it a lot more fun.”

At the end of the night, the girls had won more games overall than the boys which meant they took home the title of Best Sex.

Many students enjoyed the uniqueness of the night rally versus the regular rallies held during school. Since the rally was not only held at night, but also had a theme, it drew more students in and created an exciting environment for that night.

Senior Emilie Botello explained this was her favorite rally of all and wishes she could go to more of them.

“It was one of the best rallies I’ve been to,” Botello said. “I would’ve liked to have a night rally before. It should definitely become a tradition.”

With the success of the very first Battle of the Sexes night rally, the Associated Student Body is already planning to have another night rally next spring in hopes of drawing a larger crowd and more participants.

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About the Contributors

Mia Dixon-Slaughter, Co-Editor-in-Cheif

Mia Dixon-Slaughter, Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Downey Legend, stepped into the world of journalism 3 years ago as a sophomore. After a great deal of persuasion from her two best friends, who were on staff at the time, Dixon-Slaughter submitted her application at the semester and was welcomed shortly after. “I love writing and always have,” Slaughter said, “but I’ve always stuck strictly to literature so branching out into a different style and type of writing has helped me develop as a writer.” Although writing essays and covering stories can be polar opposites, the writer adjusted without much trouble. During her time at The Downey Legend, she has covered numerous stories, fiddled with the camera, and established the newspaper’s credibility on social media. She is competent enough to know what it takes to have efficient deadlines; all Slaughter has to do now is to guide her staff in that direction.

If the writer is not covering stories happening around school, she is still somehow always somewhere on campus. Juggling AP classes, an ASB position, and her role in newspaper, Slaughter often finds herself with a hectic schedule. This being said, when genuine free time presents itself, she takes full advantage of it. “I love getting lost or ending up in places spontaneously because it feels so great to not have an agenda sometimes,” Dixon-Slaughter said. While the senior is busy getting ready for college and balancing out the rest of her responsibilities, she hopes to provide the staff with an exemplary example of the amount of greatness that can rise from commitment.

Irania Quintero, Staff Writer

As a first year staff writer, senior Irania Quintero joined The Downey Legend in search of new experiences and opportunities. “I joined Newspaper because it gives me a chance to explore and build upon my passion for writing,” Quintero said. “It is indeed a new environment for me but a challenge worth taking on.” She has a passion for writing and hopes that with being a part of the staff she’ll expand her knowledge on different writing styles, improve her own writing, and get a feel for what she plans to do in the future. “Great writing to me is writing that makes the reader feel like he or she is a part of the experience or event described,” Quintero stated. “My ultimate goal is to deliver the same feeling to readers as many writers have done for me.” As a writer for The Downey Legend, Quintero will be in charge of pitching new story ideas and meeting deadlines. The job of a writer may get stressful and tedious at times but with Quintero’s passion for writing and undeniable reliability, she’ll take this job on without the slightest of difficulty.

Aside from being a writer for The Downey Legend, Quintero enjoys writing poetry, reading books by Nicholas Sparks, watching the Angels during their baseball season, and cooking and/or baking in her spare time. She also says that her favorite music varies from John Legend, Kanye West, The XX, to different alternative bands. Quintero also shared that she’s great with puns and that she has a positive vibe about herself at all times. “There’s almost always a smile on my face no matter what my mood is,” Quintero said. After high school she plans to attend a four-year-university, her top choice being San Francisco State University, and eventually become a journalist. Quintero has the right mind set and motivation to help her accomplish her dreams and succeed in her near future as well as in her current position on The Downey Legend.