The School Newspaper of Downey High School

The Downey Legend
The School Newspaper of Downey High School

The Downey Legend
The School Newspaper of Downey High School

The Downey Legend
Amy Garcia

Amy Garcia, Photographer

Having a passion for photography, Amy Garcia, 11, joins the Downey Legend to express her love for taking pictures and shares her journey on how it all started. “I needed an art class, but I ended up loving it [photography],” Garcia said. “I like taking pictures because they’re like portals, you can see the world without leaving your house.”  

 

As a junior moving into her senior year Amy is a quiet, BTS-loving student that sees the reality in things. When I first met Amy in my senior year of high school I had the impression that she would be funny, nice, creative, and memorable. And throughout the time I got to know her, in Newspaper, I found out that I was right. Amy ended up being exactly what I thought she would be and more. She is a great friend and I can’t wait to see where the world takes her because I have a feeling that she is going to do big things in life. Not only is she beautiful but she is also an extremely intelligent and amazing person who values trust a lot. It might take a while for her to trust you but in the end it would all be worth it because you get to meet an astonishing person that you’ll never be able to forget.   

-Jessica Garcia

All content by Amy Garcia
Spreading awareness around Downey High on the importance of maintaining our environment, Catherine Quinones, treasurer of the Eco Club,10 joined the club in hopes of being a wake up call to all her peers on how to help make the world a better place. “As a club we wanted to bring awareness to topics one could easily ignore,” Quinones said. “While at the same time have fun in doing so. By engaging these little projects it not only brought enjoyment to others but highlighted what remains behind closed doors.”

Ecology Club Raises Environmental Awareness

Alexis Gutierrez, Amy Garcia, and Eliza Vargas
May 21, 2019
A student happy to assist in eco club’s week activities Marie Olmedo, 11, is always quick to help bring awareness about the environment, “I feel that’s it’s important to have a club like this on campus to make sure that DHS students have an opportunity to serve their community and learn about how to live an eco friendly lifestyle,” Olmedo said. “Whether or not one chooses to care about the earth is totally up to them, and their choice to do so or not is valid, but eco club gives one an opportunity to learn new things that may open up their ways of thinking and viewing earth’s daily process.”

Vice President of the DHS Eco club Eva Barajas, 11, is a student who is aware that fellow students need to know how to protect the environment they live in, “So what we really want to do is spread our message about being more eco friendly and helping the environment in ways we thought would entice people,” Barajas said. “Hopefully this week people will be able to learn more about the environment or reflect on ways they can improve being friendlier to the environment.”

President of Downey High School’s Eco Club Tori Quiñones, 12, wants to encourage students to help the environment “Eco Club is a platform in which students can voice their care for the environment,” Quiñones stated. “In honor of earth day though, we decided to plan a week where students can have a hands on experience with activities.”

ERWC teacher at Downey High School, Mrs. Ordway believes conspiracy theories help students better identify fake news, “The person who writes about this conspiracy theory also writes that the flowers talk to them in the middle of the night,” Ordway said. “The one that I am probably the most curious about now is the Marilyn Monroe one, that the government killed her…. instead of blaming addiction it's easier to blame the government.”

The Conspiracy of Our English Classes

Adrian Soto and Amy Garcia
April 15, 2019
Senior Yaneli Delgado is interested in conspiracy theories but she knows where her limit lies in what she’ll believe. “One that I think is believable is the Mandela Effect, the way that like a lot of people remember things differently than the way they actually are,” Delgado said. “One that I know is false 100% is the flat Earth theory, like I don't know how people would believe the Earth is flat like its been proven multiple time that it’s not.”

An ERWC student Valery Salas,12, is excited for this conspiracy theory project and enjoys researching conspiracy theories on her own time, “I think pigeons are government agents where were the pigeons when the government shutdown? Gone,” Salas said. “I think it [conspiracy theories] really changes the opinions of a lot of people, and really changes the way they think of things, so some people believe them even if they are not true and continue to go through with it.”

An 800 meter varsity runner in the Downey High School track team, Katia Arriaga, 11, competes against Lynwood and Dominguez on March 13. “You make friends that become family,” Arriaga said. “You feel a sense of accomplishment after each and every run.”

As a part of the Downey High School track team Alex Bourgeault, 11, runs 100 meters against Lynwood and Dominguez. “I wanted to stay physically active” Bourgeault said. “And I like competitive atmosphere pretty much, and the adrenaline rush.”

Running 100 meter hurdles, Eliana Ponce, 10, competes against her own team for first place. “It's really fun and interesting and you get to like learn a lot of new stuff and new techniques,” Ponce said, “I think I did pretty good because I usually don't do the best but it was just us [Downey] so I was pretty comfortable.”

On Feb. 21, Constantina Hernand, 12, performs as a soloist and alongside the Downey High School dance team at the Benefit Dance Concert held in the Downey Civic theatre. “It’s [Benefit dance] important because I feel that giving back to the community is the best thing that we can do,” Hernand said. “Showing our love by being a part of it [Benefit Dance] is an incredibly satisfying feeling.”

[Photo] Downey Dance Holds TLC fundraiser

Lukas Luna, Co-Copy Editor
March 5, 2019
Senior Eunice Han is devastated that she has nowhere to go after school during the City Library’s renovation. “I was caught very off guard because I didn’t expect the library to go under construction all of the sudden,” Han said. “I live so far so I’m still not sure what to do, or where to go.”

[Photo] Downey City Library Renovations

Michael Pasaye, Writer
February 20, 2019
Downey High School’s AP Environmental Science classes are gone for a week long trip to Yosemite National Park; one of the students to participate is Terra Duron, 11, “I will always remember personally experiencing the beauty of nature outside of our crowded cities,” Duron said. “It depicts a type of serenity that you can’t find here in LA.”

[Photo] A Week in Yosemite

Michael Pasaye, Writer
February 12, 2019
With a dream to work in Disney’s animation department, Carlos Arvizu, 12, believes he has the drive to make his dream come true. “When I graduate, I hope to learn some finger animation so I can start doing character design,” Arvizu said. “So many people draw, but [don’t] want or are able to pursue this.”

Set on pursuing a career in animation, Diana Torres, 10, hopes to create her own program. “I really enjoy doing art and I recently got into animation,” Torres said. “I love bringing characters to life. I hope it can lead to a career in animation and creating shows.”

A senior involved in Downey High School’s Jazz Choir, Joshua Wade, 12, wants to pursue a career in music. “The idea that music has so many possibilities drives me to find out what I can do with it,” Wade said. “Knowing that there’s more to music than what’s on the paper I’m reading is what inspires me. Music is everywhere and there’s so many types of it.”

The artist behind the Love Letters exhibit, Maricela Avina, worked on her self-portrait and other paintings for 11 months before they could be displayed at the Stay Gallery on December 1st. “The love letter has kinda died where you’re physically writing a letter, now it's like a text or an email, so I think the love letter is very personal,” Avina said, “…and the whole back in the Victorian days were the wax seal was a very special way of sealing that letter; whoever broke it, that's who it was meant for.”

[Photo] Stay Gallery Hosts “Love Letters”

Jasmine Fernandez, Editor-In-Chief
December 21, 2018
A big fan of Jazz, Andy Garcia, 12, went to a Jazz festival accompanied by the rest of the Downey High School Jazz Band. “It was great, it was like just Jazz everywhere and jazz is something I really appreciate and like to listen to,” Garcia said, “so it was basically like being in a dream of mine.”

[Photo] Monterey Jazz Festival

Diego Martinez, Copy Editor
October 10, 2018
Load More Stories
Menu
Activate Search
Home
Amy Garcia