Alejandro Hernandez is a junior in his third year at The Cougar Press. He enjoys writing, exercising and eating grass-fed meat. He has authored three books.
![Konieczny pumping his rocket for launch. He said, “I chose the design to have a parachute because I thought it [would] really maximize my chance of winning.” Photo by: Adi De Clerck](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/3-900x600.jpeg)
![Rhett Paul ‘25 (right), a tennis player, going to the line to serve. Hannah Wiggins ‘23, a spectator, said, “I saw the game while passing by, and I played [tennis] in the fall season so I wanted to support the team.” Photo by: Alejandro Hernandez](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/8-3-900x600.jpg)
![Pablo Torres 24 said, I started out as a lazy person. My room was a mess, and wrestling [and] tennis drive me to keep a clear space and keep my head clear with all my thoughts. With wrestling, you have to be really focused. Photo by: Davin Dedman](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/COVER-2-1-900x675.jpg)
![Ventura High School Music Director Paul Hunt said, Sometimes [musicians] dont make [California all-state] in their freshman year, because theres a lot of people. If its high school, then the people who are seniors have been playing so much longer. We see more of the older students getting in because theyve had more years of practice. Photo by: Paul Hunt](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/COVER-AH-California-all-state-musicians-900x675.jpg)
![Ventura High School’s Career Day occurred from 11:30 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. Dec. 9 on the senior lawn. 10 career-related organizations participated in the event to promote themselves to VHS students. ASB coordinated the event. ASB Election Board President Liza Jane Manninen ‘23 said, “We thought of the idea [for the Career Day] last year. This is our second annual Career Day. This one is a bit smaller, but were still super excited. We emailed whoever we could find [to participate in the event].” Photo by: Nicklaus Shelton](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1-AH-NS-Career-day-photo-story-1-900x502.jpg)
![The Fall Food Faire, the first of two annual food faires, occurred at lunch on Nov. 18 on the senior law. Ventura High School clubs sold food items to raise funds for their respective clubs. Clubs that participated in the event organized tables from which they sold food. ASB’s student affairs committee organized the faire. ASB Student Affairs President Caylin Mobley ’23 said, “The purpose of the Food Faire is for clubs to raise money for their various expenses, as well as an opportunity for the school to come together and enjoy a fun Friday afternoon. Personally, I love the Food Faire. It’s one of my favorite events at [VHS], and the opportunity to plan it has been a blast. I love seeing everyone enjoying the food and hanging out with their friends — it creates a sense of community you can’t find anywhere else.” Photo by: Adi De Clerck](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/1-AH-AD-Food-Faire-900x600.jpg)
![Looking West’s song “I See a Man” was in progress for over a year until it was released at midnight on Oct. 21. Looking West bassist and El Camino High School student Owen Neth ’23 said, “It is really cool to finally [release] a single. Often, when we did a show, people used to ask us if we had a Spotify or any music on it, but we had to say no. Now we can say, ‘yes, we do,’ which is really cool. Overall, I am really happy [that] we are releasing one of our songs, so hopefully, we can get more ears on our music and more exposure.” Graphic by: Owen and Matt Neth](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/COVER-AH-Looking-West-first-single.jpg)
![Chess Club President and founder Riley Simpson ´24 said, “We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays during lunch in the music room. We also are starting [chess] lessons on Wednesdays after school in the ASSETS program. Just show up. We have a lot of people participating this year. Its just something new to try. [Also] this Friday, [Sept. 23], we are holding a human/life-sized chess game, with people as the pieces and people playing as the kings.” The Chess Club collected names for a raffle (left) to decide on king players for their upcoming life-sized chess game. Photo by: Adi De Clerck](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/10-1-900x600.jpg)
![Junior Tobias Raymond said, I started playing [football] in 8th grade and I was always a little nervous to play but I fell in love with it. I think I love football because of the team camaraderie. It’s really fun being around all of the guys on the team. Photo by: Alejandro Hernandez](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AH-Tobias-Raymond-5-2022-13-900x600.jpg)
![On March 25 at lunch, the spring Food Faire took place. Food Faires occur once per semester, with the previous Food Faire taking place on Nov. 19. Junior Lilia Duque, who is ASB student affairs president, said, ASB was behind the Food Faire! [The] student affairs committee is tasked with the communications between clubs and ASB, and plans Food Faire! McKale Bauerlerin, Thomas Anter and Caylin Mobley are the other members in Student Affairs committee. Food Faire is an opportunity for clubs to show what they represent through food. Photo by: Adi De Clerck](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/1-4-900x601.jpg)
![Senior Jayla Ramirez came up with the idea of “capture the flag” as a lunchtime activity. Ramirez said, “My committee [ASB] and I thought [capture the flag] would be a lot of fun.” Photo by: Adi De Clerck](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/10-1-900x600.jpg)
![VHS Biology teacher Nathan Donnelly said, “I think that too much of the decision [to lift the mask mandate] has been made because of political pressure. The decision should be made based on data available at any given time.” Graphic by: Alejandro Hernandez](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/AH-Future-of-masks-1-900x900.jpg)
![Senior Aliza Barroca, who is a member of the VHS choir, said, “It’s [the trip to Carnegie Hall] an amazing opportunity. I’m excited to go. I haven’t been to New York before so it’s going to be really fun.” Photo by: Alejandro Hernandez](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/AH-Choir-goes-to-NYC-900x675.jpg)
![According to sanandreasfault.org, The Big One is a hypothetical earthquake of magnitude ~8 or greater that is expected to happen along the SAF [San Andreas Fault]. Graphic by: Alejandro Hernandez](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AH-RG-Earthquake-safety-900x900.jpg)
![Sophomore Angelica Matehuala said, “I personally would not feel too comfortable in a classroom that’s unmasked. There are already people who don’t wear them [masks] properly and even that makes me feel a little uneasy.” Graphic by: Alejandro Hernandez](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AH-Mask-requirements-1-900x900.jpg)
![Opinion: Wikipedia is a reliable source [citation not needed]](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AH-Wikipedia-100-word-rant-900x900.jpg)
![Senior Martie Pecht said, “[COVID-19] Misinformation is very harmful and can be very deadly so I think people should be penalized for it.” Photo by: Olive Kranzler](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AH-OK-COVID-misinfo.jpg)
![Sophomore James Rail said, It started out as a homework project [photography and videography], but it then turned into a passion and a business for me. Photo by: Alejandro Hernandez](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AH-James-rail-thumbnail-1-900x760.jpg)
![Cervantes said, I am very proud of how quickly our custodians got on it. [They] noticed it, contacted their supervisors, had VPD here, had it cleaned up and boarded up. Photo by: Alejandro Hernandez](https://thecougarpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AH-RG-EN-SoNa-Office-broken-glass-2-e1644357557604-842x900.jpg)
