Amigos make a splash

At Downey High’s pool, on June 3, seniors Haley Lueanos, Miriam Castillo and junior Raven Perez, take a swim for the final Amigos Club BBQ of the school year. “The pool party was really fun,” Castillo said. “It was a great time and very relaxing.”

Esther Rodriguez, Parents & Teachers Section Editor
June 16, 2015

On Wed., June 3, the DHS Amigos hosted their first ever Amigos Pool Party at the Downey Aquatics Center.

The Amigos met at the pool during their third period and came together to eat, swim and socialize. As the last event of the school year, many seniors took this time to reflect on their time in Amigos.

Senior Natalie Aguilar enjoyed the time she spent with because the students brightened her day with their contagious happiness.

“My favorite part of the club is seeing everyone happy,” Aguilar said. “When we are all together, we are all one and have no titles besides being amigos.”

The Amigos were able to spend one last event together even if this event missed one thing all the other events had: dancing. Dancing at the events was one of senior Valerie Ortiz’s favorite parts of being in the club.

“I could literally go wild and know it’s okay because my amigo friends are vibing out even more then I physically wished I can,” Ortiz said.

Although not many people went in the pool due to the weather, the club members were able to enjoy their time bonding with those who did not go in the water.

Junior Kyle Villa enjoyed being able to spend time with his fellow Amigos while also learning to socialize better with the students with disabilities.

“Everything we do to give back to the kids and see that they are happy and to see how happy they are to socialize with the general education kids really puts a smile on my face,” Villa said. “DHS Amigos is a great opportunity to gain social skills and get to have fun dancing with friends.”

DHS Amigos is club on campus that allows a connection and friendships to grow between the general education students and the students with disabilities that may not have been able to form before.

Although this is the last event of the school year for the Amigos, this July the Amigos have the opportunity to volunteer at the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games as Downey is hosting Team Ireland.

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About the Contributors

Esther Rodriguez, Parents & Teachers Section Editor

Entering her second year as a writer for The Downey Legend, senior Esther Rodriguez has high hopes. As a sophomore, she heard about joining Newspaper during the morning announcements and her English teacher, Mr. Kraus, encouraged her to fill out an application and display her knack for writing. This inspired her to apply and see if she could make it, which she did. Rodriguez joined in hopes of improving her writing skills, becoming less shy, and learning to write in more detail. To her, the best part about being on the newspaper staff is finding out about interesting, random things going on around the school. “There are things you would not know just coming to school, but being in Newspaper you learn things that aren’t common knowledge,” Rodriguez said. “We are the eyes and ears of the school.”

In her down time, Rodriguez enjoys reading young adult literature, writing fictional stories, and spending quality time with her cell phone on websites like YouTube, Tumblr, and Twitter. Besides being in Newspaper at school, she is also a new tutor at Downey High’s Writing Center. Writing as much as possible is important to her because she dreams of one day being an author. Along with chasing her aspirations of writing for a living, after she finishes high school, Rodriguez also looks forward to attending a university such as UCLA, San Diego State, or UC San Diego and obtaining a degree in English. Next summer, she will also be going on a missionary trip with church to Japan. Although her head is full of thoughts about the surreal future, for now Rodriguez is focusing on her schoolwork and activities and soaking up her last year as a high schooler.

Emily Herrera, Sports Section Editor

Senior Emily Herrera went from photojournalism to The Downey Legend to give herself a challenge as a photographer. “When I graduate I want to become a sports photographer,” Herrera said. “I think Newspaper will give me practice in my photographic skills.” As a photographer Herrera plans on building her portfolio. To Herrera, photography is not just taking pictures, it is a passion that lets her go behind a lens and capture an incredible image.
When Herrera does not have a camera in her hands, she likes to play soccer. Playing soccer gives her an adrenaline rush that has helped her release stress. During the summer she went to The Monster tour held by Rihanna and Eminem. “Watching Rihanna play live in person was the highlight of my summer,” Herrera said, “my favorite song was “All of the Lights”.” She loves watching sports on TV and hanging out with her friends during her spare time. In the future Herrera sees herself attending UC Santa Barbara or USC and majoring in photojournalism. She has a long path ahead of her with many challenges on the way, but she is going to stay positive and conquer her dreams.