PRINTSRAMRio Rancho High School

Volume-16 Issue- 3Rio Rancho, NM

Read about Kayla Klenke and her dancing experience being apart of the RythAMetteS

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Cheeck out the speacial feature of Madam Ives- The Editor and Cheif of Ram Prints.

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Learn about how senior, Micheal Leyba, danced his way through his high school experieince.

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J.R.O.T.C. e x t r a o r d i n a i r e : B r y a n S c h e l l

Staff Writerby Madonna Ahern-Trujillo

Mikayla Weiser will miss leading the acoustic performance group that was hand picked by the guitar teacher Jimmy Rivera. She was also the only senior that was a part of the group which makes Mikayla stand out. Mikayla describes the group as an amaz-ing outlet for her and her friends. They perform a couple songs each semes-ter and Mikayla is the lead guitarist. Not many students can boast this accomplish-ment, and it means so much to Mikayla because she advanced quickly. “We get to make things our own by doing something we all love”

states Mikayla about her guitar group. They perform a variety of songs so they can continue to improve their skills. This experience has restored Mikayla’s love for guitar

and performing in front of audiences which is, some-thing she used to view as scary. The responsibility Rivera gave Mikayla her junior year has brought her much joy throughout her

senior year. Mikayla spent her middle school years like most do, shy and trying to figure out the dynamics of public school. Mikayla has only attended Rio Rancho

High School for a couple of years but now, as a senior, no one is as social as Mikayla. Her presence is easily recognizable in every classroom because she is always wearing a bright smile. Needless to say, Mi-kayla has become a social butterfly with out losing sight of what really matters: her beliefs and friends. Mikayla describes moving to Rio Rancho as a “really big culture shock” because she went from a school with a population of 500 to one with 2,500. This can be dif-ficult with a smaller student population it places every-one under a public micro-scope for review, but she considers the move ben-eficial overall. At a larger school it’s easier to try new things since there are much more people that have dif-

Warmhearted senior: Mikayla Weiser

ferent interests. It forced her to speak up and interact with her peers, which has led her to find some of the most amazing friends. “I’ve never had greater friends, they’re amazing and that’s the best part about high school for me” says Mikayla. She, and many others, find that friends are a huge part of high school because they shape who she has become. One can tell a lot about a person simply by looking at the type of com-pany they keep. Mikayla won’t have a hard time making the jump from our high school pond into the big ocean of colleges and careers. She will have noth-ing but support from her wonderful family and close friends.

Business Managerby Carlette Tena

Senior Bryan Schell has been going to Rio Rancho High School for three years, he is an awesome person with a great personality, and will be a graduate of the class of 2013. He has numerous plans for what he is going to do for the future, and has made countless accom-plishments, that he is very proud of, during his time at Rio Rancho High School. Bryan has some great ambitions. After High

School he intends to “have a full time job” while going “to UNM [to] take a business administration course, to get a better job.” Bryan has some very realistic goals, and the determination to see them all the way through. While Bryan has been at RRHS, he has suc-ceeded in many ways. Bryan says he is proud of “being a good student, doing [his] work, and staying in school still.” Beyond academics Bryan has gotten mul-tiple “awards in the JROTC program,” including the Marksmanship Shooting

Badge, Drill Team Ribbon, and Recruiting Ribbon. He acquired these awards by getting a high score in shoot-ing, by drilling well, and by recruiting others into the JROTC program. When it comes to changing the world Bryan wants to assist “by helping out, doing charity, and if that works [other] people will do the same.” By helping people Bryan wants to create a domino effect, where more people will see the good and be inspired to contribute as well. For Underclassmen Bryan offers some excellent

advice when it come to suc-ceeding, and passing High School “do your work, take lots of notes, eat well, [and] don’t skip lunch ‘cause even-tually you will get hungry.” Bryan is a caring person who will do excellent things for the future, such as going into business and administration. With this Bryan will have the ability to manage a business that could bring in new jobs and better the future economy. He has the motivation to get things done and move this world forward for the better.

Senior Issue 2013

SeniorsRam Prints

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Amazing MMA fighter: Cody Werschem

This year, Cody Werschem gets to gradu-ate along with the class of 2013. He has been aiming for the best and has worked hard to get to this point, and will keep striving to move forward in life and the rest of the school year. He is a great person with and can easily talk with people, be-cause of this he has excel-lent people skills. Cody’s dream ca-reer is to be a “professional MMA fighter down in the UFC.” He says this is the

job he wants to do because it’s “just something [he has] always been into. [He] used to get picked on a lot. So just getting a job like that to prove them wrong [and] maybe prove to kids that smaller guys can beat bigger guys.” Cody used to train for mixed martial arts (MMA) and says “[he] would like to get back into it.” Some talents Cody has that he wants to use in his career are “great people skills. I love entertaining people.” He says “I’ve al-ways had a nack for keeping people entertained and doing

a lot of fun stuff with people.” These are some great talents for the career Cody wants to do, because good people skills would open the door for advertising for Cody and get him sponsors. Also being able to entertain people will be helpful, because people would then go to see the fights. When it comes to giving advice to underclass-men Cody says “always push yourself to do better. Don’t just be happy with what is. Like if you a B, strive to get that A, and if you want to make a sports team strive to do it. Don’t just sit there and

Staff Writerby Madonna Ahern-Trujillo

Hard working, positive, fun-loving, and blonde these are just a few words that describe Annalies Andresen. Throughout her career at Rio Rancho High School she has been dedi-cated, to say the least, to the things that matter the most to her: academics, sports medicine, and extracurricu-lar activities. This year, her graduation will be bitter-sweet as it will serve as a major achievement for her but will mark the end of her time at Rio Rancho High School. For Annalies this year was full of more “responsibility in mentor-ing and teaching other in freshman mentorship and primarily sports medicine,” but she does not mind it at all. In fact, she welcomes

the challenge. “As crazy as it sounds, I like to be kept busy and really enjoy help-ing other people. It makes me a happier person when I exceed other’s expectations of me.” This is the kind of attitude that is needed in current society. Although Annalies began high school at Rio Rancho Cyber Academy, she has certainly made an impact here at Rio Rancho High School. Besides sports medicine and freshman mentorship she is also a part of National Honor Society and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. “These clubs go to show my hard work and commitment to my academ-ics and faith.” During her sopho-more and junior years An-nalies also played softball

and explains that she “made a lot of new friends and learned a lot about hard work and responsibility.” These are two of the traits that are also a tremendous part of being a member of sports medicine. “Sports medicine has been my life for two years…literally. I’m in the training room several times a week diagnosing and treating athletes while helping the first year students but it’s what I love to do.” Last year Annalies made it all the way to the state competition for sports medicine where she helped lead Rio Rancho High School’s sports medicine program to their 12th trophy. In addition to participat-ing in the state competition again this year, Annalies has already lettered for spend-ing a total of 318 hours in the training room and is still counting. In her spare time Annalies loves to spend her time skiing or “shredding the gnar” as she calls it. She says that even though “most people prefer snowboard-ing [she] sees it as more of a trend rather than a sport because [she] enjoys ski rac-ing and participating in the big mountain competition. Annalies spends the other portion of her spare time with her boyfriend, junior Justin Parra and best friend, senior Ariel Ives.

Annalies says, “I’ve loved spending my high school career with my best friend. I know I’m able to rely on her through the stressful and hard times I’ve had and am proud to say that we’ve been by each other’s sides through every victory. Without her my time here, at Rio, would not have been easy and cer-tainly not as fun and eventful as it has been.” Ives also agrees that the pair has made incredible memories together. “One of my favorite times with An-nalies is when we decided to go all out at a football game. It was a rare time when we were both not working the game for sports medicine so

we colored our hair, painted our faces, and wore all the spirit clothing and accesso-ries that we possibly could. It was such a blast and is a time that I definitely will not forget for as long as I live.” In the fall Annalies will become a full time Lobo at the University of New Mexico where she is “so excited to start studying medicine and can’t wait for that new step in [her] life.” She says that she “grew up always going to events at UNM and has always felt at home there.” This, in con-junction with the experiences that she has gained in sports medicine, is sure to aid her throughout her

college career. In all, Annalies is an incredibly talented and dedi-cated person. Whether it is with her academics, friends, job, or hobbies she always pushes herself to her full potential. No matter where life takes Annalies, she will make an impact. Some ad-vice that she wishes to leave with future students is to “never let striking out keep you from playing the game. If there is one thing that all my experiences throughout high school have taught me, it’s to learn from hardships and failures and to work hard to succeed next time.

The awesome, t h e amaz ing , t h e admi rable

Annalies Andresen

be like ‘oh I’m good enough this I’ll go next year.’ Push yourself; just strive to be a better person.” In his years through high school Cody says if he could change one thing he “probably wouldn’t have slacked off so much [his] sophomore and freshmen years. [He] would be striv-ing for better.” He said “ju-nior year hit and [he] was like ‘oh crap I’ve got to start doing stuff.”Overall Cody Werschem is a good person with the determination and motivation to move forward in life. He has his plan for the

future and will strive to ac-complish it fully. Cody has the willpower to get things

done and that’s why he will graduate this year with the class of 2013.

Senior Issue 2013

SeniorsRam Prints

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Many seniors have been very fun, outgoing, and just outstanding in sports, clubs, and education. One of many including, Oliva Sted-man, this overachiever is captain of the bowling team, and is apart of the organiza-tion “Distributive Education Clubs of America” (DECA). Olivia’s most mem-orable memory was in Feb-ruary, when “we took third place for state in bowling. We had a specific section in the audience for Rio Rancho students, they were cheering us on, and it was great. It felt like the whole school was there cheering us on.”

Olivia has also made nationals for DECA. She got on DECA because of her out-standing grade point average which was a 4.02. “I’m in the top 25 percentile in my class, its great,” she says. “But I don’t take it for granted,” she adds “its hard work and its difficult to stay on top, you have to put your heart into the work, and make sure you always turn in your stuff on time, or else the teachers won’t except it, senior teachers are rough, not like past grade teachers. They’re hard on everything and you have to make sure you got your stuff together.” Olivia’s favorite sport is bowling, and as said

earlier, she took third for the school in February. “Bowling is great because a lot of dif-ferent people play it, its ex-tremely competitive, and you got stay on you’re a game be-cause bowlers out there want nothing more but to win. I ad-mire that.” Bowling is also real-ly hard to master. It may seem easy when playing it for fun at bowling alleys, or when you see actors on TV score nothing but strikes, but in re-ality, it is hard to get perfect shots every time,” says Olivia. Olivia was so kind to give lower grade students advice and tips. “I’ve learned from high school that time management is key, and you

won’t survive school, or work without it. Learn how to pri-oritize your tasks. Also don’t be afraid to challenge your-self, because when you do you achieve more, and you will be rewarded with schol-arships, and lots more, and make sure to not get behind in the early years, because it will be extremely difficult to catch up in the later years,” she says. Finally Olivia, says “be yourself. Nothing good comes out of trying to be that ‘cool kid’ you would see on TV or in movies. You just end up looking stupid or getting in trouble. Be yourself and the friends will come and so will the happiness.”

Olivia Stedman: An Over AchieverStaff Writerby Andrew Salazar

Hailey MCkenna She’s got the moves like Jag-ger!” Co-Captain of the RythAMetteS team, senior Hailey Mckenna is look-ing forward to a very shiny future. She wants to go to UNM to be a dental hygien-ist. Some of Hailey’s most memorable moments were Friday nights at the Rams football games. Whether she was just danc-ing, or performing at half

time with the RythAMetteS. She especially enjoyed the late October games when all the girls dressed like zombies and danced to Mi-chael Jacksons “Thriller.” Her advice for under classmen is to “take high school seriously, work your butt off, but also have fun and get in to after school activities.” Mckenna was also the historian of the student body. She has applied for Eastern and UNM. She has been accepted in to

Eastern, but would like to wait for a response from UNM before she makes her decision on where to go. However, she does believe that Rio Rancho has given her all the tools to succeed in college and her career choice of dental hygienist.When asked which teacher has made the most positive impact on her through high school, her response was: “Mr. Duncan has left the most positive impact on me and has made me in to a more outgoing person and

always believed in me.” “High school has been so much more than

I expected and has helped me mature a lot more since freshman year, and I

wouldn’t have asked for it any other way.”Staff Writer

by Kendal Beasley

Cody Martinez Rio Rancho High School student by day, pizza man by night. Senior Cody Martinez is a cashier at Little Caesar’s, and is also a great kid at Rio Rancho High School. An interesting thing about him is that he wants to be a psychologist

when he gets older. One of Martinez’s most memorable moments at Rio Rancho High School was the Van’s competition, where students designed shoes for the brand Van’s. Although he did not participate in the competition, he found it to be very interesting and enjoyed watching it.

He has applied to Texas A&M and wants to major in psychology. He has not been accepted into A&M yet, but it is a goal that he would very much like to achieve. He wants to go to college for psychology because he is very interested in how the human mind works. Cody says that Rio Rancho High School has given him the tools he will need to succeed in college. Rio Rancho “has definitely set me up better than my last school, especially with its

psychology and forensics programs.” His advice to the underclassmen is “don’t stress out on relationships, enjoy your time with your friends, and don’t slack off, it could really come back and bite you in the butt.” Clearly, Cody is a very interesting student, and has a very bright future ahead of him. Rio Rancho wishes him the best of luck with his post high school life. And if students ever see him working the register at Little Caeser’s, say “hey!’

Staff Writerby Kendal Beasley

Senior Issue 2013

SeniorsRam Prints

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teachers don’t do. We then made a joke of it and I now call her ‘madam Ives.’ We have become very close since then” says Salazar. Ariel loves being in charge of the Ram Prints because she likes the leader-

ship and enjoys learning how to better communicate with others. “It’s similar to being a business manager which is a skill that I can use in the fu-ture” says Ariel. She is also apart of the National Art Honor So-ciety, is a freshman mentor-ship, and also participates in the National Honor Society. “I love being apart of these clubs because it is a true show of my interests and who I am- an artsy nerd.” In-between Ariel’s schedule, when she has free time, she says she is a “sucker for movies” and re-watches Danny Bhoy, her favorite co-median. She mostly watches action movies or comedies, but she also loves to watch “romance chick flicks” just

to make fun of them with her sister, Zhane Ives. “She hates when I do that, but what kind of big sister would I be if I didn’t pick on her” says Ariel. Zhane Ives is very close to her older sister and loves to hangout with her be-cause they are each other’s: “saucy starfish” and she loves to “hang out with her because [she] can always laugh and have a good time, even when [she doesn’t] want to” says Zhane Ives. One of Ariel and Zhane Ives favorite memories is the story of how they de-veloped their “random” nick-name for each other, “saucy starfish.” When the two de-cided to play a trick on one of their friends they laid out on their driveway attempting to hide. “That is when our friend found us and asked us who was there and what the heck we were doing. So I ex-claimed ‘no one! We are star-fish.’ ” said Zhane Ives. From that moment on they have continued to grow closer to each other as they run around stores look-ing for one another by singing Taylor Swift’s, “We Are Nev-er Getting Back Together”- their animal call when they can’t find each other. “We both can’t stand her music, but we made good use of her weird ‘we-ee!’ in the chorus” said Ariel. Essentially, Ives is an amazing photographer, fu-ture medical student, writer, sister, and friend. Through her experiences she is ready for life after high school and is prepared to accomplish anything thrown at her. “Life is too short to spend it being comfortable. It’s better to constantly push boundaries. In other words, live life to the fullest” says Ariel.

get my bachelor’s degree in something that I might be able to use again. I’m looking into getting a degree in either athletic training, emergency medical technician, or pho-tography.” Being interested in the human body, sports medi-cine, helping others, and “us-ing power tools on people” has inspired Ariel to become an orthopedic surgeon. Win-ning first place in the indi-vidual category in state for sports medicine last school year, after being in the pro-gram for only 1 year, was a defeat. Ariel said “it was a surprise” because she didn’t even know she won until her best friend was pushing her to the front of the room and her other team mate kissed her on her head. “I also remember Miss. Loiacono’s reaction. That is something I will never forget.” Sports medicine isn’t where Ives stops in regards to clubs. She is also the Edi-tor and Chief of Ram Prints newspaper. Andrew Salazar, the columnist for Ram Prints, said he first thought Ariel was a teacher because she was in charge and very organized. “When ever I asked her a question I always called her ‘Miss.’ I then found out she wasn’t a teacher because she appeared at my friend’s birth-day party which is something

she raised nearly $7 thousand for a pro-gram called “People to People” that sent her all over Europe- an unforgettable ex-perience. “It was in-credible to be within a few hours of mul-tiple countries at any given time. Its just not something we get to experience in the U.S.” said Ariel

During her trip she visited six countries and 10 cit-ies, which included a home stay with a family in a small town called Offen-bach in Germany for three days.

A r i e l learned a lot from this experience; such

as getting along with people she was not fond of, becom-ing much more independent, and experiencing numerous traditions and customs. “I loved being immersed in so many different cultures and I made friendships on that trip that will last forever. I still talk to some of the girls that I stayed with in Germany.” Although Ariel loves photography and ex-ploring the world, she wants to become an orthopedic surgeon and go to medical school. Ariel said “I want to

photography. It all started when Ariel was 12 years old and her grandpa asked her to take a picture of him and her grandma. Since then, she kept “borrowing, but more like stealing” his camera until she got her very own Nikon D80. Soon, she became fascinated with photography learning that she has an eye for a great picture. “I love being able to capture a moment that will continue to captivate others for a long time. It almost feels like I’m leaving my mark in a way” said Ariel. On top of all this,

Graduating this year is senior Ariel Ives. She is ready for the life of a college student at the University of New Mexico which her ac-complishments throughout her high school career have helped her prepare for. One of Ariel’s most exciting achievements is her endorsement from the Rio Rancho Public School Dis-trict as an energy and water conservation advocate under the EnerG3 program. They have published her photos of nature in various parts of New Mexico throughout Rio Rancho Public Schools. But Rio Rancho is not where Ariel’s photogra-phy stops. In 2010 she was the honored youth artist for the month of November at the Corrales Art Society’s “Art in the Park.” Ariel said she “sold a ton of pictures, but all the money went to helping me fundraise for [her] ambassa-dorship.” Ariel has worked hard to go public with her

Madam Ives

Staff Writerby Bonnie Holloway

Co-Assistant Editorby Bonnie Holloway

Senior Issue 2013

Our MissiOn: The purpose of the Ram Prints is to provide the students of Rio Rancho High School a forum for student ex-pression, to inform the student body about events affecting them, to in-fluence readers through responsible editorials, to entertain through fea-tures and to provide a medium for advertisers and consumers. These goals will be achieved through fair and accurate reporting, accom-plished while following the code of ethics developed by the Society for Professional Journalists.

EditOrial/OpiniOns pOlicy:The Editorial Board of the Ram Prints determines the content of the paper. All unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Editorial Board. Bylined editori-als, opinions, cartoons, and personal columns reflect the opinion of the writer or artist, and not necessarily the opinion of the Editorial Board or the school and its administration.

The Ram Prints encourages guest columns and letters to the editor, as they constitute a constructive forum for opinion. Letters and columns should not exceed 250 words and must be signed by the writer to be considered for publication. All letters must be received two weeks prior to publication. The authentic-ity of the writer will be verified before publication, and letters may be returned for poor taste, grammar, plagiarism, libel and space.

advErtising pOlicy:All advertising must meet the same requirements as editorials and student submissions. Acceptance of advertising does not constitute an endorsement from the Ram Prints staff, editors, or Rio Rancho High School. Students who appear in advertisements must sign a district media release form, as well as a model release form acknowledg-ing that their appearance in the advertisement is to support the school and its newspaper, and that they will receive no compensation from the business or advertiser. The school newspaper reserves the right to refuse any advertisement of ser-vices or products that are illegal or considered unhealthy or undesirable for students in the school district.

EditOrial bOardEditor-in-chief Ariel IvesCo-Assistant EditorsBonnie HollowayEllen PierceBusiness ManagerCarlette TenaPhotography EditorEllen PierceSports WriterCameron PowellCollumnist Andrew SalazarAdviserEmily Brandon

Newspaper Staff WritersMadonna Ahern-Trujillo Kendal BeasleyMorgan AcostaMercedes Swansinger

sEnd OpiniOns, subMissiOns Or advErtisEMEnts tO:Rio Rancho High SchoolRam Prints301 Loma ColoradoRio Rancho, NM 87124(505) 896-5665

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 3

PRINTSRAM

SeniorsSenior Issue 2013Ram Prints 5 5

B i l i n g u a l B r o E r i c k

Erick Rodriguez is a pretty chill dude just enjoy-ing his last year at the best high school in the state Rio

Rancho High School. He is also very

outgoing, it probably helps that he can talk to anyone in two languages. Yes, he is bilingual; he speaks both English and Spanish fluently

which he enjoyed very much enjoyed and had rehearsal after school for 3 months but he didn’t mind because he loved playing music. Maybe after high school he will play his music sometime to his girlfriend so he could continue his appreciation of music.

Erick says his girl-friend is one of the interest-ing people that he met during high school because she makes him happy. His teach-ers were also interesting be-cause they were very helpful in his endeavors during high school. Those were some of Erick’s favorite people that he met during school, but some of his favorite memo-ries include some water gun

which makes it sort of easy for him to pass his Spanish class. Teacher John Shepard sometimes gives him a hard time about taking Spanish 2 his senior year in high school but his classmates sure do appreciate the help.

Sophomore Class-mate Nate Rios says on the matter of having Erick in his Spanish class, “it’s pretty cool having him in my Span-ish class because when the teacher is busy I can ask him for help”. Rios also men-tions that, “he’s a pretty good drummer and he inspires me to be a rapper in his band.”

Erick was involved in marching band his first few years at Rio Rancho High School as a drummer

fights he had at the end of the year at school. He also mentions one time when his friend said hello to him in the hallway and he said hello back and he thought it was “mind blowing.”

Realizing that education is important, after high school Erick plans on doing what most good, smart students do: go to college. He wants to go to UNM because it is a great school. In fact, UNM has the degree he wants, and it is close to home so he can stay close to friends and family. As Erick would say in Spanish “Viva las Rio Rancho” High mean-ing “long live Rio Rancho High.”

Staff Writerby Cameron Powell

After the Rio Ran-cho Rams Beat Goddard high school at the homecoming game, the crowd went wild and the varsity football team ran onto the field cheering for their challenging defeat, as they where titled the un-derdogs. “My most memo-rable moment in high school was this year’s homecoming game when everyone ran on to the field when we won,” says senior, Ismael Gallardo. Ismael has come a long way to finish up the rest of his days walking down the halls of Rio Rancho High.

After high school and along the way he has made many memories, from the football games to the dances, enjoy-ing his time while it lasts, Ismael can’t wait to start a new life and start making new memories Ismael plans to at-tend college after graduating and earning a degree in en-gineering. Ismael has always been interested and wants to learn more about engineering and possibly make it a career. “It’s just something I’ve always liked,” says Ismael.Ismael loves to help others out and is always there for people who need him the most saying he “would be an

example to lead high schools kids so they know what to do and what not to do” and if given the chance to start high school all over again he said he would “would get more involved with school activities.” Growing up for Ismael was always fun and exciting, as he says, “I had a big family who supported me and I also had good friends while growing up.” Going through high school, Ismael admits that the football games was his favorite activ-ity during high school.Before long, Ismael will start college beginning his for four year long journey to

succeed in earning a degree in engineer-ing. And since Is-mael wasn’t in many school activities, he plans to get involved more in college and many other things in life. “I can’t wait to start off new and start a new life,” says Ismael, because high school was not always his favorite thing, but being focused on school work and studying is a priority he main-tains.

Sean Garey, origi-nally from Durango, Colora-do, is apart of the graduating class of 2013 at Rio Rancho high school and could be de-scribed as a funny, cool, and an outgoing type of guy.

A friend of Sean’s, Carlette Tena, describes him as an “awesomely awkward guy, you need in that every classroom to distract you from the boredom of high school even though he can be obnoxiously funny.”

Sean is not the most school spirited, but still en-joys going to the occasional

basketball or football game to cheer on the Rams, espe-cially when facing the cross town rivals, the Cleveland Storm. “I enjoy watching sports and just hanging with my friends.”

Many students have had their ups and downs in high school. Sean mentions his favorite moment was the time he and his friends made a video for one of their class-es about violence in which he, “dressed up in a gorilla costume and [his] friend, who was a linebacker for the foot-ball team, tackled [him] to the ground.”

After high school

Sean plans on joining the navy for four years. Then he wants to get an accounting degree at Utah State University. “I’ve learned from Mr. Taylor that life isn’t easy. If high school was hard the rest of your life will be much harder,” Sean says.

Throughout Sean’s experience in high school the one thing he regrets is not participating in any extra cur-ricular activities because of the opportunity to gain skills that may become useful later in his life.

He also mentions that, “the extra curricular ac-tivities allow people to make

new friends instead of just going home after school and chilling.” He does plan on coming back one day to see how all of his friends turned out and maybe sharing a meal

Sean The Thinker

or a laugh. As most did, Sean

enjoyed his time at Rio Ran-cho High and will most likely miss it, but the school will al-ways be here waiting for his return.

Staff Writerby Cameron Powell

Staff Writerby Cameron Powell

I s m a e l G a l l a r d o

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Excitement builds as Carlette Tena, a delight-fully social senior, wears her “lucky football shirt” at a football game. The experi-ence of “going to the games…painting faces and all of that” defines Carlette’s time in high school. She begins screaming at the players to “get it to-gether” and drives the people on the surrounding bleachers away.

Along with attending the football games, Carlette has been quite involved in school activities the past three and half years. She describes

being football manager for six months as “excruciating because, as a social person, it was hard to be isolated from the players and not talk to them.”

She then decided to continue with theater as a thespian. She was part of two plays, a musical, and “tech.” Lastly, during her senior year, she joined the newspaper staff.

Amongst these ac-tivities, Carlette found time to host French foreign exchange student, Coralie Favre, during the fall semester of her fresh-man year. Even though she was in French 1, her teacher,

Madame Oakes, allowed Car-lette to host due to her good study skills and grades. The exchange’s theme was hot air balloons since the students were from Annonay, France: the city in which the hot air balloon was invented. Along with the other exchange stu-dents, Carlette brought Favre to the Balloon Fiesta.

The following sum-mer, Favre hosted Carlette in France during the anni-versary of the invention of the hot air balloon. Carlette loved the exchange program because she “could live in an

actual house. It felt more hos-pitable.” She really enjoyed living at someone’s house be-cause it made France feel like a second home.

While applying to colleges, Carlette made sure to apply to regional state schools so that there would be plenty of students to get to know and more courses of-fered. She doesn’t know what she would like to major in, but she is interested in “poli-tics, and whatever [she] does must be some sort of mean-ingful work.”

Carlette will be at-tending University of New Mexico (UNM) in the fall. She says she decided that “be-cause I’m undecided for my career, it would make more sense to get my associates degree here than at a more expensive school.” After de-ciding on a career, Carlette will choose a graduate school that specializes in that field. When asked how she feels about attending UNM she states, “I’m excited because it’s not too drastic of change [since it is close to home] to where I feel like I can’t han-dle it. I get to keep my sup-port system like my family, close friends, and church.” She does want to join “cool clubs like underwater basket weaving or Quidditch” to make an effort to meet new people since “clubs are a re-ally good way to do that.”

Three people that

greatly influenced Carlette in high school like are Favre, Rebecca Mitchel, and Dylan Castorena. She started ex-plaining the impact Favre left on her life due to “[Favre’s] mentality, because obviously her culture is different, so she taught me a lot. She sees the world differently so she gave me a bigger view of the world instead of just ‘me, me, me,’ and how things work on a grander scale. Like boys and girls can be just friends. Americans are really sketchy with that stereotype.”

After knowing Mitchel for five years, and despite Mitchel being home-schooled now, Carlette says Mitchel influenced her life “not because she’s the great-est person in the world, but because we’ve been friends for so long, and … those long lasting relationships are just people to keep around.”

During her senior year, Carlette’s boyfriend and best friend, Castorena, “has been a great support system.” He tells her to always “finish strong,” as she works through homework and life problems.

During high school, Carlette was not “clique-ish,” and believes this has prepared her for the future because “that’s how life is. You can’t put things into boxes or cat-egories. It’s good to just get a mix everything.”

Despite all this, she still has one regret from high school. As a result of her busy

schedule due to “retaking Al-gebra II instead of just doing it right the first time,” she was not able to take the classes that she wanted to. The Vans shoe contest intrigued her, but she could not take art because of this mistake.

Algebra teacher, Aaron Haynes, has impacted Carlette’s life the most. With his young personality he does not “sugar coat anything.” He advised Carlette that, “if you can’t pass algebra II, which is so generic, then you probably shouldn’t go to college.” In addition, his eating habits en-courage her to think “man…I need to eat healthier.”

Government class has also left an imprint on Carlette. The in-class debates and elections caused her to become interested in politics for the first time. Carlette be-lieves that “if we live here we should understand how [the government] works. People complain all the time [about the government], and it’s like ‘you don’t understand how it works so you shouldn’t be talking.’” Carlette thanks Tom Gutierrez for teaching the class really well and mak-ing it interesting.

With all the activities Carlette is involved in, and hopes to be associ-ated with in college, she is confident that high school has prepared her for the outside world of non-public school education, and beyond.

Carlette Tena

Kayla MoralesSenior Kayla Mo-

rales’ good friend, Abi Varela praises Kayla as “one of the best listeners… you can talk for hours and she’ll listen and try to help. And even though she seems quiet, she’s actu-ally really funny.” Varela reminisces “once [her] baby brother made [Kayla] laugh so hard she cried, and the funny thing is that Isaiah, [Varela’s] baby brother, was just eating; she just thought it was hilarious.”

Similarly, Varela has

also impacted Kayla’s life. She described them as “great pals,” in relation to their “sim-ilar interests” and that Varela is “reliable, and [she] can al-ways talk to her.” Both girls will greatly miss each other as they go off to college.

Next year, Kayla will be attending the University of New Mexico in order to stay in state for the lottery schol-arship and plans to “get into medical stuff or biology.”

When asked about the activities she plans to do in college, she replies with a light hearted, “beats me!” She

does however; plan to mainly focus on her studies.

Kayla was involved in cross country junior year, National Art Honor Society this year, and has attempted to join the Key Club, “but that didn’t really work out” due to her lack of commit-ment. She regrets not being more involved in school clubs and activities.

The AP classes have prepared her for life outside of high school, in result of their rigor, and are “steps towards what [she] really wants” out of life.

Kayla’s favorite teachers are Ms. Jennifer Miyashiro, the AP biology teacher, and Mr. Bruce Smith, the AP US History, AP Gov-ernment, and AP Macroeco-nomics teacher.

AP Biology was also her favorite class because she felt like she learned a lot. Kayla says Smith is “just awesome and a good teach-er.” She continues to say both teachers are “really dedicated to their job and that’s what makes them good teachers.”

Through the trials of high school, Kayla Mo-

rales has managed to keep her school work as her first priority, and is excited for her independence at the Uni-

versity of New Mexico in the fall.

Staff Writerby Ellen Pierce

Staff Writerby Ellen Pierce

Senior of all trades

Senior Issue 2013

SeniorsRam Prints

7 7

Brenda Fulkerson is

ready to begin life outside of

high school and looks forward

to meeting all different types

of people in the coming years.

“I want to get out of this state.

Not forever, but to meet people

I’ve never met; see what it’s

really like out there,” says Brenda.

After realizing

she would like “to make

something more of [her] life

than just getting a career,”

she states, “being in high

school [has] made me have

a closed mind because right

now it feels like this is it;

after I graduate it’s over and

the people I know now are

the only ones I’ll ever know,

but there is so much out there

that I don’t know and I want

to experience it all.” Brenda

is not blinded by high school

and knows the future holds

great things that she is ready

to experience.

Her new beginning

will start at the University of

New Mexico (UNM), where

she will major in pre-dental,

and then continue on to dental

school. Brenda wants to go

to UNM for the benefits of

the lottery scholarship and

that she can live at home,

“so the transition from high

school to college won’t be

as scary.” Another reason is

that Brenda wanted to follow

her grandpa’s footsteps and

attend his alma mater. She

hopes to “make something

more of [her] life than just

getting a career.”

After having a lot

of fun in the student council

at Rio Rancho High School,

Brenda wishes to “get

involved with the student

council [at UNM].”

Her love for

Associated Students results

in her regret that she was not

enrolled in it for all four years

of high school. Brenda is also

disappointed that she did not

try out for the RythAMetteS,

the volleyball team, the

soccer team, or remained on

the track team. She thought

she could not succeed at

any of the sports. “I never

stuck with track just because

I honestly just got lazy and

I’m not really a competitive

person, I love to run, but just

for fun,” Brenda says, but she

does “regret never at least

trying.”

Brenda reminisces

about the people she has

Brenda Fulkersonknown over the past few years

and the impact that they have

had on her life. Bill Duncan “is

the most optimistic person,”

according to Brenda. Duncan

inspires Brenda “to want to

go through any crazy idea

[she] might get because of how

believes anything is possible.”

Another teacher that

has greatly helped Brenda

throughout the past few

years is Coach Jason Black.

Brenda says, “he was my

teacher sophomore year and

I remember I was having a

really bad day, and he took me

in the hallway to talk to me. It

made me feel better [to know]

that he was there for me.”

However, Brenda’s

favorite teachers are, Tom

Gutierrez and Jennifer

Miyashiro. According to

Brenda, “they’re the funniest

people ever, [and] they make

[her] want to learn.”

Brenda says that

another person that has greatly

affected her is Colleen Lorms.

Brenda has “only known her

this year,” but the two have

“gotten really close.” “There

isn’t a day that she can’t make

me laugh,” Brenda says.

Similarly, Brenda

says the best memory of

high school is this year’s

homecoming spirit week

and dance. Nevertheless, she

does “still have two months

and [she] knows there will

be some good ‘stuff’ to

remember.” Another memory

that brightened her time in

high school is foods class.

After being enrolled in it for

two years, she says, “it was

almost as fun as ‘StuCo’

[Student Council.]” It gave her

“the best” experience and friends.

Clearly, Brenda

Fulkerson has enjoyed high

school, filled with great

memories and fantastic friends.

Alysha Roybal is

a determined person with a

friendly personality and is

apart of the graduating class

of 2013 this year. She has

her goals set out in front of

her and her mind in the right

place to get them done.

Alysha has a plan

and is ready to see it through

all the way.

Alysha says her favorite

year of High School was Ju-

nior year “because [she] was

more focused and [she] didn’t

have all these deadlines to

deal with.” Alysha, like the

rest of the Seniors, have

“deadlines for the ACT, for

scholarships, for the financial

Alysha Roybal: the future of psychologyaid, and have a lot to get done

before [they] graduate.”

After graduation Alysha’s

main goal “is to go to college,

and get started in [her] ca-

reer. [She] just want[s] to go

to college and make sure that

[she’s] set for life, and maybe

focus on finding a house and

that kind of thing.”

Alysha plans on get-

ting her degree in “psycholo-

gy… maybe mixed criminolo-

gy and psychology together.”

This could open the door for

Alysha to better understand

the human mind and behavior

of criminals, which will be

beneficial in prosecutions and

bringing criminals to justice.

In regard to college, Alysha

wants to start out at “CNM

because it’s cheaper and all

[her] credits will eventually

cross over to UNM, and that’s

where [she] would go next.”

She wants to “take

at least two years at CNM to

start off [her] career.” This

is an excellent idea because

many students before her

have chosen this path and it

is cheaper to start off at CNM

and then cross over to UNM.

Throughout high school

Alysha has liked “being able

to have options for [her] elec-

tives, and being able to ex-

perience what [she] wanted

to do, and in doing that [she]

was able to take forensics and

AP psychology to see if [she]

further wanted to pursue that

career.” Overall, being able

to explore different things in

high school helped Alysha to

decide what she ultimately

wanted to do for her career

and life, in general.

Alysha offers some great

guidance for underclassmen.

She says “don’t wait till the

last moment to take the ACT,

[she] would say take the prac-

tice one as soon as you can,

which is recommended junior

year, maybe even before.”

Take the advice from Alysha

when she says “stay focused;

don’t let anybody or anything

get in the way of school first.

Just make sure you do your

best the whole year or else

you’ll get stuck with a lot of

stuff to do at the end.” This

can be very helpful informa-

tion for the future.

After high school Alysha

will go off to study psychol-

ogy and criminology.

She will then get the chance

to study the human mind as

well as the mind of a crimi-

nal. The study of the human

brain and criminal brain helps

people to better understand

themselves, how the criminal

mind works, and what causes

criminals to commit crimes.

Alysha knows where she is

headed in life, and she knows

how she is going to get there,

with determination and hard

work. Maybe one day Alysha

will become the new addition

on CSI.

Staff Writerby Madonna Ahern-Trujillo

Staff Writerby Ellen Pierce

Senior Issue 2013

SeniorsRam Prints

8 8

Phoenix Leon

Staff Writer

There is so much more to the girls that dance remarkably at our school assemblies. First of all, those girls are called the RhythAMetteS. Secondly, they are led by their skillful captain, Kayla Klenke. The name “Kayla Klenke” prob-ably doesn’t ring a bell be-cause she transferred to Rio Rancho High School after her sophomore year. “I was on the RhythAMetteS before I got here so it was like a built-in unit and I was able to easily adapt”. Kayla enjoys RRHS much more than Cyber Acad-emy for various reasons. First of which is the larger population. Kayla feels like she has become more responsible, and she learned how to interact with other people. From Kayla’s energetic personality it’s easy to see that she has no prob-

lem with maintaining close friendships. Kayla is “outgoing, takes constructive criticism well, and puts it too good use,” says her RhythAMetteS coach, Christine Carson. Kayla listens to her coach in-tently while also maintaining a leadership role. Lifting a leg over the head looks hard enough, but being able to encourage an entire team to execute this would be seemingly impos-sible. However, Kayla enjoys the responsibility and com-mitment involved in encour-aging her team. “I really like being able to motivate the team be-fore we perform,” says Kayla. She considers being the cap-tain of the team as her great-est achievement thus far. Kayla describes 2013 as her “most spirited year” by far in high school. When Kayla steps on the dance floor her personality and love for dance radiates

with each movement. Howev-er, Kayla shines in more than one aspect. She challenges herself academically by tak-ing rigorous courses such as AP English. Kayla humbly proclaims that she is in the top twenty-five of the class of 2013. This is not an easy task

to accomplish because the students at Rio Rancho High School are very competitive when it comes to maintaining good grades. Her future plans in-clude embracing the changes that accompany college life and ending this school year

strong and with lots of school spirit. She intends to attend Texas Tech in the fall and de-scribes it as her dream college. Attributes that drew Kayla to Texas Tech included the spir-ited atmosphere and the fact that Lubbock is a community centered around the college.

No matter what Kayla intends to do after high school, there is no doubt that she will take her blissful per-sonality and ambition with her.

by Carlette Tena

Phoenix Leon is one

of many outstanding seniors

that inspire people to do their

best and to exceed standard

expectations. Phoenix was

in sports medicine for three

years and believes that it is

a beneficial class as well as a

unique hobby.

Sports Medicine

taught Phoenix valuable skills

such as work ethic, time man-

agement, and prioritizing.

Phoenix has decided to focus

on the medical field after high

school due to her participa-

tion in sports medicine.

“I believe if I set my

mind to it I can someday be-

come a doctor.” Sports medi-

cine has provided her with the

experience she needs in order

to pursue the medicine field.

“I just love helping

people. And I’m so interested

in the field of medicine, I re-

ally want to go to nursing

school and see where my ca-

reer goes from there,” says

Phoenix in regards to her aca-

demic future.

High school has

taught her that “family means

so much, and sometimes they

come before friends.” In her

four years of high school, she

has also learned many life

lessons. First of which was

to trust only the people she

loves. Phoenix also believes

that anything can be achieved

through hard work.

She also greatly

values her relationships with

friends and family. Phoenix

tries to prioritize herself and

the people she cares about

most before becoming in-

volved with the personal lives

of others. However, she is al-

ways free to listen to others in

need. She does this by being

a good listener and provid-

ing wisdom when asked.

“Its great think-

ing about the universe and

where we come from, I like

thinking about that kind of

stuff,” she says. Phoenix

has gained a broader under-

standing about herself and

the world during her years

at Rio Rancho High School.

All of Phoenix Le-

on’s accomplishments and

knowledge will not leave

her when she receives her

diploma and turns her tas-

sel. The gains of high school

far outweigh the trials and

hardship that every student

endures. Phoenix’s in lore

are known for rebirth. High

School is not the end but

Phoenix Leon has a new be-

ginning.

Staff Writerby Andrew Salazar

Dancing queen: Kayla KlenkeSenior Issue 2013

Ram Prints

Seniors9 9Aaron Dinkle

Aaron Dinkle is

a varsity wrestler for Rio

Rancho High School. Along

with other RRHS goers, he is

laid back, has a good sense

of humor, and is an outstand-

ing student. Aaron Dinkle

has been in wrestling since

his freshmen year in 2009.

Wrestling has been

a big part in Aaron’s career

at RRHS. It was also the

only club Aaron has been

in. Aaron prefers traditional

wrestling over freestyle

wrestling because you can go

for one’s opponent’s legs in

traditional, while in freestyle

wrestling its pretty much just

throwing one’s opponent.

Surprisingly to many, wres-

tling has also taught Aaron a

thing or two.

“Wrestling is more

then just tap outs to me.

Wrestling has taught me to

step up my game, and to

work harder to succeed not

only in wrestling, but in life

as well. It has also led me

to meet new people that are

friends with me to this day,”

says Aaron about the impacts

of being a part of the sport.

High school has

taught Aaron a lot about life.

Not only from wrestling, but

in experiences with friends,

family, teachers and events

that have occurred. From all

of this he has learned enough

lessons for a lifetime. He

has learned that good things

come at a price and the price

is hard work. Whether it

is impressing a girl, get-

ting good grades, or even

something as complicated as

maintaining a relationships.

“You can’t just get

what you want with just

imagining the things happen-

ing, you have to go out and

do them in order to succeed.

You have to work at it and

not give up, because the sec-

ond you do your chances for

it happening will decrease,”

he says. Aaron retains so

much knowledge because

he had to learn everything

first hand through his own

personal experiences.

Aaron also ac-

knowledges that “not many

other countries have the op-

portunity, and the advantage

that Americans have. Some

countries don’t even have the

right to go to school. That’s

something that you have to

appreciate in being in this

great country, take advan-

tage, learn, don’t be dumb

and drop out, and go to col-

lage, it is a lot of hard work,

but its totally worth it. Not

only do you get even more

knowledge that will come

in handy, but it gives you an

edge. This edge will give you

a higher chance of getting

a good job.” Aaron regards

knowledge as a powerful and

valuable thing. This sort of

outlook on life is usually rare

for any individual.

Aaron utilizes the

education he has received

through academic achieve-

ments in all subjects but

particularly in math.

“I’m really good

with numbers,” says Aaron,

“math comes really easy to

me, it’s funny, I always hear

people saying how much

they hate it and that it’s just

so hard, at the sound of this

I always laugh and shake

my head, grinning.” Aaron

receieved an ‘A plus’ both

semesters in math this year,

and is continuing to impress

many with maintaining good

grades in his math classes.

Aaron is a shining

example of an outstand-

ing student that attends Rio

Rancho High School. He

is talented at mathematics,

attended varsity wrestling,

and has learned the value of

education. From his experi-

ences at RRHS Aaron is

more prepared than ever to

embark on a new journey

after he graduates.

Dallin Brady

Staff Writerby Andrew Salazar

Dallin Brady’s high school experience has been a good run for him and he is sad to leave. He has had many good memories that date back to fifth grade and is still creating more with his friends and girlfriend. High school has taught Dallin how to be more responsible, do his work, and develop relationships. One particular relationship would be with his girlfriend Madi Melugin. Dallin remembers back in his freshman year he had a class with Melogin- “I would always try and talk to her, but se would never really talk back and we even sat right next to each other. I found her attractive, but I thought we would never date.” Another close friend of Dallin’s is Austin Pat-

terson. The two have been friends since fifth grade and has grown close to him over the past eight years. “ It’s funny because back in fourth grade, I was the new kid and I saw Austin and his friends playing football. I asked him if I could play and he told me I couldn’t play because I wasn’t in his class, but in fifth grade I was in the same class as him and he let me play with him. We have been best friends since” said Dal-lin. Their greatest memories together consist of friendly competitions, playing basketball, and with air soft guns and challenging each other on the field. Dallin and Austin both played on the high school varsity football team. Dallin has been playing foot-ball for eight years and loves it. “Junior year I

would always tackled by the kicker so that’s akind of been a joke my whole high school career” laughed Dalin add-ing that during his very last game he made an awesome punt return in the playoffs, made it past the kicker, and scored a touchdown. Dallin plans to keep playing when he gets to college. He is going to the University of New Mexico where he will play football for a year and study business. After a year he will be taking a two year church mission. During his trip he will visit different parts of the world and preach his faith with other members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. “I’m going to miss seeing all the people that I have come to know in high school, but I’m very anxious for the next chapter in my life so it should be fun.”

Co-Assistant Editorby Bonnie Holloway

Senior Issue 2013

Ram Prints

Seniors10 10

It was the fourth quarter in the game, with only seconds left. The crowd was roaring with excitement. They were all ready to see it come to an end with a great victory. It was Marquis Se-dillos’ junior year at Volcano Vista High School when he took the ball from their rival, Cibola. Marquis took the ball and dunked on their point guard with only four seconds left in the quarter, which lead to a victorious win for the team. Sports are a tremen-dous influence is Marquis’ life. At Volcano Vista High School, where he transferred from, he was on the track team. He has recently re-ceived an offer from Boise State University to run with their track team, but Marquis is unsure about this decision he says “its cold in Idaho.”

Basketball is another sport that has been an influence. Some of Marquis’ best high school experiences involve basketball. Marquis sees him-self playing basketball after high school because of his athleticism. He is also very thankful to simply be on the team ever since he has come to Rio Rancho high school. The job Marquis would like to acquire after high school is being a suc-cessful fire marshal. He would like to do so because he enjoys helping the folks around him and making a dif-ference in many others lives. “I just want to be successful,” says Marquis. Many of Marquis’ friends think highly of him. “Marquis is really funny guy in a sarcastic way. He respects his family and puts them be-fore anyone else. He is also very easy to talk to and get to know and in doing so you will realize he is very friendly and a really nice guy,” says sophomore, Nicole Young. Marquis is very pop-ular senior, known for many things including being a great friend, dancing, and of course basketball. Senior Michael Leyba says, “he’s so funny,

he doesn’t take things seri-ously. Marquis is one crazy, psycho in a good way. He’s very smart in English, and a really good guy. You can talk to him about anything, and he won’t tell any of your secrets. Marquis is just a really good friend to have.” If Marquis could start high school all over again he said he would have chosen his friends more wisely because he is at his happiest when he is around his friends and fam-ily, “they bring out the best in me,” says Marquis. He would have changed coming to Rio Rancho high school sooner than he did and would have been more involved in school activities. Marquis is very talented. He is excellent at many things, including danc-ing. Marquis enjoys dancing very much he first interested it this when he was seven years old. He had started dancing because he saw Mi-chael Jackson dance, then from there Marquis watched movies like “Breakin,” “You Got Served,” and “Rize.” He wanted to see him self-being able to dance like he was in a movie. By the time Marquis was ten we was battling and

Marquis Sedillos

performing on stage with his own unique style of dancing. Over the years Marquis has gotten better and better with lots of practice. Many others see Marquis as great dancer, Senior Leyba said, “He’s not only good at basketball, he is also an excellent break danc-er.” As far a job Marquis said, “I'm not Channing Tatum or anything, but if someone ever saw me dancing and of-fered me a nice sum of money just to go move a little bit, I wouldn't hesitate to accept.” In order for Marquis to complete the goals he has in life, he has realized that high school is a huge portion in do-ing so. “I believe that in high school, especially towards the end, you start to realize who you are and develop an un-derstanding of the world. You can’t get anywhere you want to go without knowing where you have been,” says Marquis. Marquis plans on graduating high school, be-ing the best at everything he loves to do, going to college, becoming a fire marshal, and living a happy life with a wife and some Marquis juniors.And that’s the end of the game.

Staff Writerby Mercedez Swansinger

Talented on the court and creative on the dance floor

Michael Leyba: Dance Machine Michael P. Leyba can be seen busting a move in the court yard and the crowd going wild while performing his moves. “One of my favorite high school memories was going into my first dance battle even though I lost horribly. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world; it felt like I was at war.” Michael started danc-ing when he was 14 years old ever since he has been “out and about” putting on shows for crowds of students at lunch. After high school Michael plans to move to California to become a famous actor. He reasons, “I

want to be an actor because it looks so fun and I think I am good at it,” and adds, “When I was in 4th grade I convinced the nears I was colored blind and she really thought I was, so I think I could make a career out of it.” Michael recounts one life-changing dancing experience, “one time, I was dancing on stage and when I got off this old lady who was there told me the nicest thing; she said I brought life back to an old woman.” Michael enjoyed his dancing memories, and is ready to make new ones in the future. Michael’s personal-ity reflects his mother’s and started dancing in result of

her inspiration. He admires his mother the most out of any other person on the planet and “one of [his] biggest fears is losing [his] mom because [he is] a huge ‘mama’s boy.’” The last four years Michael was involved in many school activities such as plays and master dance. He met lots of people through his expression of his “amazing” personality and humor. “I think the best aspect of myself has to be my laugh,” says Michael. As high school ends, Michael’s dance moves and acting stay with him. Michael describes his childhood as, “growing up was a blast. I had the best

time because I have a very big family and we always have family parties. My cousins would come almost

every summer, so it was fun growing up.” Michael puts a priority on family, and enjoys be-ing around his family and friends.

Crowds raging his name, Michael will definitely be the next star in the future.

Staff Writerby Morgan Acosta

Senior Issue 2013

Ram Prints

Seniors11 11

The creativity one may have is shown in what he or she loves to do. There are many types of people: shy, creative, funny, etc. That someone who doesn’t talk a lot could be the most outspoken person you know. Getting to someone and real-izing there was a lot more to that individual then anyone would have ever thought. For instance, you see this guy who doesn’t talk a lot and is not the most popular student in high school, many will think he’s not cool so they don’t get to know him but. The people that choose not to get to know him, would have met a young man to loves to make mov-ies, and one day will pursue his dreams of becoming a wonderful producer, this young man is Jonas Graham. Jonas has one major objective in life, which is making movies. He would love to grow older and have his very own movie studio so he can produce movies on his own. Jonas enjoys movie making to the extreme. “It has always been my pas-sion to make people feel the way they haven’t ever felt before after, watching one of my movies,” says Jonas. He aims to create movies that convey emotion. “Whether that emotion is happy, sad, or suspenseful, when an audi-ence actually gets into the movie and feels the emotion of the characters, that’s all I want,” says Jonas. He is very serious about being in the movie-making field, but before he does so, Jonas would like to attend the University of New Mexico to study film. Although, Jonas is not the most popular student at Rio Rancho High School he does have a variety of friends that do care about him. Junior Sean McDow says, “I have known Jonas for a long time, he is good at keeping track of his time and is very fun to be around. He is also very personable and funny.” Coming into high school, Jonas believed that it

was going to be “hard” and “stressful.” Now that he is a senior, Jonas has realized that high school was a lot easier than he imagined. Jo-nas thinks of high school as a big step in the right direction to pursue his goals. He also believes that college is the bigger step that he has to take for his goals to actually happen. Other than making movies Jonas enjoys rock climbing, with his family and friends. Rock climbing is a way for Jonas to get things off his mind and just go and have a blast. “My dad was always crazy about climbing, I must have gotten my mon-key climbing instinct from him,” says Jonas. Movie making and Rock climbing brings out Jonas’ true colors. People see a side of Jonas in which they don’t see when first meeting, there is a lot to a person some do not notice until they have gotten to know them. Leaving high school, Jonas is pleased with what he has accomplished: meeting new people, hanging

out with his friends at lunch, and coming to be the person he is today. Jonas wishes he had done more things throughout his years in school such as, talk more and smile at times that he didn’t. Jonas wants to live the life of a man whose mov-ies are shown nation wide. Not only does Jonas want to be a successful director, he would like to win award after award for his creations. Jonas doesn’t want to be the next superstar, he wants to live on a comfortable amount of money, neither rich nor poor. He wants to enjoy life as much as possible and not let little things bring him down. One day Jonas will achieve the goals he has and be happy. He wants to be that man who set his mind to something and it became something greater then he ever though it would. Now wouldn’t you want to meet someone with this kind of talent? One may never know until they do so, therefore don’t judge a book by its cover.

Jonas Graham Does one ever believe that the drawings they illustrate have a greater mean-ing? Or how they forget ev-erything that is going by just drawing out your emotions? Well so does Tyra McTammy. Drawing has a huge significance to Tyra in her life. Many have no idea that she “loves” it. When Tyra is stressed out she devotes her mind to drawing. Who knows what is going to turn up when she is finished. “It pushes me to my limit and shows me what I can do with only a piece of paper and a pencil,” says Tyra. There are some who have seen and enjoyed Tyra’s illustrations. “Tyra’s amazing she knows how to draw and it really brings out her artistic side,” says sopho-more Nicole Young. Now that high school is coming to an end for Tyra, she would like to attend Arizona Tech Art Institute because of her interest in drawing, art, and gaming. Ari-zona’s climate works for Tyra because she does not like the cold. Tyra would like to live

the life of her dreams: to be wealthy and able to provide not only for herself, but for her family as well. A variety of people think highly of Tyra. “Where do I start? Tyra is incred-ibly funny. She has a good heart and is very loving, also she doesn’t let people walk all over her,” says sopho-more Brandy Mora. Mora is involved in Tyra’s life more than anyone else. She is not only her best friend but her “fiancé,” “the love of her life.” Many of Tyra’s life decisions revolve around spending the rest of her life with Mora and vise versa. Tyra has been trough it all the good, the bad and the ugliest throughout her high school years. The ups including the relationships she has gained with teachers and students, the downs consisting of real-izing what she is going to leave behind when it is time to move on and start her life. Tyra’s friends are very supportive and think highly of her. “Tyra is a great friend, she will always be there for you no matter who you are. She is very easy to talk to and get along with. Tyra will make you laugh

your butt off, no doubt about that. Im really glad I started becoming closer to Tyra this year, and some of last year. I hope that she leaves high school and is successful in all of her dreams and lives the life that she always wanted to live,” says Young. Expectations Tyra had of high school when she was freshman have complete-ly changed now that she is in her senior year. “I’ve realized that high school was a huge responsibility and that you have to work for what you want. In the end, it’s worth it,” said Tyra. Tyra is going to miss the everyday life schedule of going to school, talking back to her teachers and most of all hanging out and talking to her friends that she may or may not see ever again after high school. She’s also very excited to start the rest of her life, going to college, excel-ling in drawing, moving to Arizona, marrying the girl she loves, having kids, accom-plishing goals, and living her dream.

Tyra McTammyStaff Writerby Mercedes Swansinger

Staff Writerby Mercedes Swansinger

Senior Issue 2013

Lucero MendozaAfter four years

of high school the work has finally paid off for Senior Lu-cero Mendoza. Lucero’s plans include “doing the usual: go to college, start a career, and I guess grow up. Planning and organizing what to do after high school is a hassle and such a hard ache, but in the end it’s all worth it.”

During her high school years Lucero has made a lot of friends along the way as a result of many adventures and memories. “The best memory is probably all my awkward moments I’ve had with people. I’m the type of person who see’s some hurt person getting in the eleva-tor and I jump in with them because I’m a lazy bum.”

As the seniors gradu-ate, the incoming freshmen have no idea what is com-ing for them. Lucero says, “honestly, they need to learn to not care what people think of them. It’s way cooler to be funny and awkward or that kid who follows everyone around.” Don’t be afraid to be yourself and face challenges through out high school just

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Dr. Stephanie Sanchez

Stephanie Sanchez is a good person moving up and forward in life. Stepha-nie this year graduates as part of the class of 2013. She is a very kind person who is ready to take on the world, and get a start in life. Stephanie says her favorite year in high school was “freshman year… be-cause I was really cool and had a lot of fun.” Another reason Stephanie says fresh-man year was her favorite because “the other years are just so hard.” In regard to the future Stephanie says, “I want to become an orthodon-tist or an oral surgeon.” This is an interest of Stephanie’s “because [she] likes teeth. [She] knows it sounds weird but [she is] a teeth person. So working with teeth and mak-ing them look good, [she] guesses it’s something [she] likes.” Stephanie knows to that in doing what she wants to do she will “have to go to medical school.” She has what it takes though to be-come and orthodontist or oral surgeon. Regarding college, Stephanie has it all figured out. She “wanted to attend

[a college] in Colorado” but is “going to UNM because [she] got a scholarship there.” So with the scholar-ship Stephanie is going to be set to go to college. Stepha-nie is very smart and she has the future planed out. When it comes to giving advice, Stephanie informs underclassmen to not “procrastinate on doing your work, because it’ll bite you in the end.” She also advises “getting lots of sleep at night.” Sleep is energy and Stephanie is clearly amazing at advising people. If one thing could be changed about her years in high school, Stephanie says she would change “hav-ing dramatic friendships, because they bring you into all the drama, and just cause problems you don’t need to be [dealing] with.” So overall Stepha-nie is a super friendly, and awesome person. She will continue to work hard and will end up becoming the future in orthodontic indus-try. Her future holds medi-cal school and a great live helping to enhance people’s looks, specifically their teeth.

like Lucero did. High School only

happens once and is filled with opportunity. Coming closer and closer to graduation makes seniors want to start their high school years in a totally different way. “I would probably join student council my freshmen year. That’s the only class where I’m not the only one clapping at random moments, and if I am clapping by myself someone is bound to join me,” says Lucero. She is now student body treasurer in student council and is hav-ing the time of her life before the year ends.

When asked what Lucero’s major in college would be she says, “Major uhhh what’s that? No, just kidding! I know I want to be a lawyer, but my major is still out there waiting to be found by me.” Decision making is hard for most seniors but they are bound to find what they need.

Over the course of four years becoming a high schooler changes students in many different ways. “I have changed. I mean, I have become more comfortable being me wherever I am,” says Lucero. Sometimes students

change for the good or change for the bad, it depends on which crowd or path they walk with.

After graduating, all the memories make seniors miss the times they had. “I’ll probably miss everything later in my life when I’m super old looking back on my senior year, yearbook, or most of all, the friendships I’ve made throughout these four years.”

says Lucero. Senior year is the most exciting year of high school because of the memo-ries students will cherish in the future. Looking back at all the homecomings, football games, dances, and friend-ships, Lucero will forever remember these years as the time of her life.

Felicia Garcia

Staff Writerby Morgan Acosta

Staff Writerby Madonna Ahern-Trujillo

Staff Writerby Kendal Beasley

Senior Felicia Garcia has come a very long way, working hard, towards something she loves, which involves a tre-mendous amount of skill, along with a raw talent of art. Her goal is to become a tattoo artist. “I want to go to CNM, then UNM, and then get my apprenticeship to become a tattoo artist.” After going to “Rio” for a total of 3 years, Felicia says, “it went by really fast, I didn’t expect that,” and she also knows that high school has really helped her “figure out who [she] is.”

One thing Felicia wishes she knew before she became a freshman was to not “slack off and try to get all your credits done with by senior year.” For example, do not fail any classes, and always turn in homework. It “sucks” be-ing a senior and not having early release. One of her favor-ite moments at Rio was homecoming, freshman year. Felicia says, “it was an experience I will never forget, I had such a great time with all of my friends and I never wanted the night to end.” Felicia did not participate in many school activities, but she wished she would have so she could of had the opotrunity to meet new people, make more friends and be more

involoved with her school. This year Felicia is playing rugby with her younger sister Johnnie Garcia, and has fun doing it while spending time with her sister. Anyone that knows Felicia is aware that she is a very tal-ented artist, and has a very

unique sense of style. From her fire red hair, to her interesting tat-toos, she is one of the more unique students at Rio Rancho High School, and has the drive to succeed in college and earn her apprenticeship to become a tatttoo artist.

Senior Issue 2013