The Student News Site of Foothill Technology High School

The Foothill Dragon Press
The Student News Site of Foothill Technology High School

The Foothill Dragon Press
The Student News Site of Foothill Technology High School

The Foothill Dragon Press
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Cartoon 118: Valentine’s Day

Amelia Gerk, Illustrator
February 14, 2025
Amelia Gerk
As Valentine’s Day rolls around again, it’s time to step back from a day that has been widely considered a romantic holiday and think of others you love. One popular way to celebrate Valentines is through doing a “Galentines,” where instead of romantic company, you focus on just hanging around with friends and enjoying each other’s company. It’s a time to appreciate everyone you love, from family to friends, to future love, there is a place for everyone to celebrate Valentine’s.
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Falling on January 29, 2025, Lunar New Year is the holiday following the second new moon after the winter solstice. Lasting 15 days, celebrations from different cultures typically corroborate one of the 12 Chinese zodiacs; 2025 is the year of the snake. Associated with general qualities of an enigmatic and uncanny personality, depending on the time of year and conditions of the child’s birth, superstitions may point towards what the child’s personality may be like in the future. During the holiday however, Lunar New Year celebrations will be centered around snake imagery in cultures that support the 12 zodiac signs, also including the traditional exchange of red envelopes and grand festivities that occur otherwise. Common celebrations may include lion dances and dragon dancers, performed by crews of two for the lion and nine for the dragon. There may be fireworks and lanterns hung on the streets, plus a variety of other decorations as each family sees fit to celebrate.
Cartoon 117: Lunar New Year
Celebrated officially on the last Monday of May each year, the origins of Memorial Day trace back to May 5, 1868. Three years after the end of the Civil War, an organization of veterans from the Union side gathered to lay flowers on the graves of the war-fallen. The first declaration of the day of decoration was made by Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, who announced that it should be May 30. In the same year, 1868, the first large gathering of this event was held at Arlington National Cemetery, where flowers were left on both Union and Confederate graves in the cemetery. However, there were still small, local observances before this event. Such as on April 26, 1866, when a group of women decorated the graves of Confederate soldiers lost in the battle at Shiloh. Union graves were also present, however, ignored due to them being the enemy of the time. Disturbed by the bare graves, the women set flowers on their graves as well. However, this was not the only instance of claiming to be the first to have a decoration day ceremony, as 25 other instances tie for the title of the original Memorial Day celebration. By 1900, states had adopted proclamations recognizing Memorial Day as an official day, with the Army and Navy taking on regulations to observe this day properly at their facilities. After World War I, the day began to encompass all deaths in American wars and then was officially declared a national holiday by Congress in 1971. While the national date remains on the last Monday of May each year, many southern states also have separate dates to honor the Confederate soldiers who died. Mississippi has its Confederate Memorial Day on the last Monday of April, Georgia on April 26, Alabama on the fourth Monday of April, and North and South Carolina observe the day on May 10, while on June 3 Tennessee and Louisiana recognize the date as Confederate Decoration Day. Virginia claims the last Monday in May as Confederate Memorial Day, while Texas celebrates Confederate Heroes Day on Jan. 19. A small tradition emerged from Memorial Day, and that is to place small American flags on each grave. As well, in Dec. 2000 the U.S. Congress passed an act named “The National Moment of Remembrance Act” that encourages all Americans to pause at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day and have a minute of silence as they honor and remember those who have passed in service of their country.
Cartoon 116: Memorial Day
Lunar New Years is a time for celebration recognized in various places throughout the world. Following the setting of the second new moon after the winter solstice, Lunar New Year in 2024 begins on Feb. 10. After the initial day, the new year period lasts until 15 days later when the next full moon rises and a lantern festival is held on the final day. With celebrations recorded back as early as the 14th-century Shang Dynasty, it's said that the celebration originated from a battle against a Nian, a dragon that would prey on villages and livestock. The Nian would come down to the village once a year, until an old man had advised the village that the Nian was afraid of bright lights and loud noises, along with the color red. The village had hung red banners, lanterns, and decorations of all kinds on their houses as well as lighting firecrackers, then performing a very loud lion dance accompanied by a long dragon dance. When the Nian arrived to attack the village, it was scared off and retreated to where it had arrived from. Now to keep the Nian at bay, every year the Lunar New Year is celebrated. Associated with the lunar new year are the 12 Chinese zodiacs, which work in a 12-year cycle. The order of the zodiacs was decided in an old folk tale of a great race between the 12 animals to get to the Jade Emperor, the order decided by their place in the race. The rat is the first zodiac, as it finished first place in the race by riding along the ox’s back and jumping off at the last second. In last place was the pig, marking the end before a new rotation is started. Lunar new year in 2024 is the year of the dragon, the fifth animal to finish the race. With the dragon as Foothill Technology High School’s mascot, this year is sure to bring good luck and prosperity to the students.
Cartoon 115: Happy Lunar New Year!
As the students of Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) leave the festivities of winter break behind, finals approach, a looming presence over the return to classes. Foothill Tech will soon be filled with anxious students cramming to remember coursework from before winter break.
Cartoon 114: Finals looming
With college applications coming to a close, so does this wave of stress and pressure. Some students get ahead of the deadlines, writing their applications early. Though mixed with school work college applications often leave quite a few students scrambling to meet the deadline with well-done work. It can feel overwhelming, application upon application to get done. It emphasizes the hurried pace of college applications, resulting in a thankful wave when they are finally done and over with.
Cartoon 113: The season of college applications
Now that the season for Halloween is over, it’s time to decorate for… Christmas? There is no doubt that Christmas is one of the most popular holidays of the year, with millions of people choosing to celebrate the holiday, and it’s easy to see why. Along with its religious context as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas has also become a holiday where you can come together and gift presents to the ones you love. With the increasing excitement each year towards preparing and decorating for the oncoming Christmas season, companies and businesses aren’t afraid to jump in on the wagon. You might have seen Christmas decorations being sold as early as October, and maybe even the rare house or two decked out with icicles and Christmas lights way before Halloween even started. And of course, who could forget about poor Thanksgiving? Sandwiched between two very heavily decor emphasizing events, it’s easy to forget about decorating for Thanksgiving, as it’s decorations lean more on simple fall decor and color palettes than anything extreme, but Thanksgiving still remains a very big event, even if it may be a bit off putting to see a Christmas snowman on the counter top. In all, it seems that the Christmas spirit is arriving earlier and earlier each year. With Christmas cementing its place as one of the most popular holidays in the world, this trend doesn’t seem like it will stop anytime soon.
Cartoon 112: It's time to decorate for... Christmas?
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The United States cherishes 63 total National Parks, ranging from valleys to forests. The Trump administration fired over 4,000 National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service employees combined, on Feb. 14, 2025. With the decrease of staff, protecting the natural beauty of the National Parks will become more of a challenge than ever.
Opinion: The future of National Parks endangered by mass layoffs
On March 18, 2025, students at Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) gathers outside a mobile donation trailer, waiting for their turn to donate blood during the annual event. This gives students the opportunity to support their local community by giving blood to those in need.
Up to 171 lives saved through Foothill Tech's biannual blood drive
On a sunny Saturday, a crowd gathers in the parking lot of Arts Corner Cafe, waiting for a seat. The cafe mixes Mexican cuisine into its menu alongside more traditional breakfast options. As well as serving lunch. Arts Corner Cafe switched ownership about a year and a half ago, and has gone through a remodel since then.
Art's Corner Cafe review
Containing a long history of immigration, California has become known as a popular state for immigrants of all ethnicities and cultures due to its widespread protections and programs available for their benefit. Ventura itself has a diverse background with its population, with many finding success in their journeys with the opportunities presented within the city. Despite the complex system in place for immigrants seeking to enter the United States, many persevere in search of a better life or greater opportunities they may not have had before in their home country. Immigrants also contribute to the culture of the state and city in a variety of ways, overall benefiting everyone involved.
Immigration in Ventura: Past, present and future
Foothill Technology freshman Beau Anderson (number 2) and Yannick Colin (number 15) lead out their 800m heat in a strong line.
Track and Field take on Don Green and Spartan Relays
Foothill Technology High School reached a new milestone as of January 23, 2025. Reaching the highest grades in the school’s history since its founding in 2000, 85% of students were reported to have a 3.0 GPA or above or improved their GPA by 0.5 points or more. These students qualify for renaissance, the school’s method of rewarding academic success and showing appreciation for the student’s hard work and dedication. After renaissance acceptance rates fell directly after COVID-19, this new milestone demonstrates a bright future for the students and their continual success.
Breaking records: Foothill Tech celebrates its highest grades in the school’s history
More in Opinion
Editorials reflect a majority opinion of the 13-person Editorial Review Board and are written collaboratively.
Editorial: Threats to DEI in the “Dear Colleague” letter are legal overreach and could harm essential student support programs
Redpilling is a dangerous form of online indoctrination that radicalized young white men to fall into the alt-right pipeline. This is achieved by many tools: YouTube videos, online forums, podcasts and more. The pipeline pushes harmful values that reinforce ideas like toxic masculinity, white supremacy and conspiracy. Although users online may not be purposefully searching for this polarizing content, the algorithm can accidentally boost videos, ultimately permeating a large array of viewers.
Opinion: What is "redpilling"?
As 2025 pushes along its time to remember the New Year resolutions that may have been so soon forgotten. Whether it was learning a new language, or trying a new sport, eating more healthy, maybe spend less? It can't hurt to try it all at once, right? They hit the ground running but eventually always burn out by February. Don't worry though, you always have next year.
Satire: "New Year, New Me"
Right in front of Foothill Technology High School's campus stood a glaring orange sun, and a chalky grey sky representing the devastating fires all over LA County. While still at school, students of Foothill Tech faced a snowstorm of fallen ash from the fires, and poor air quality, as depicted in the image.
Opinion: Amber waves of grain? No, a wildfire
Join journalists, Sofia Patiño '25 and Fiona Aulenta '26 in the newest season of the podcast "The Talk of the Lair." In this episode, starring the sports section editor, Chance Leandro '25 and one of his staffers, Conor White '25, they'll do a deep dive into the process of covering sports in journalism.
The Talk of the Lair: Meet the sports section
Surviving into the modern era from its creation in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson, the email is recognized as an important mode of communication between individuals. Although now seemingly outclassed by a variety of other platforms and methods, it still remains as a steady method of sending messages to and from each other. Serving as a background option when these classy new features fail, the email hasn't quite died out yet. Which begs the question; will email become objective with more time, or be adapted to new needs?
Satire: The reconstruction of the email
About the Contributor
Amelia Gerk
Amelia Gerk, Illustrator
I am a first year illustrator, painter and official music lover.