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 119: The lunch line

Amelia Gerk, Illustrator
September 23, 2025
Amelia Gerk
As the new school year settles in, it becomes clear to returning students that some things never change — one of those being the infamous lunch line, notoriously long and full. It is the last hurdle for students, as well as staff, to get food.
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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.
Cartoon 118: Valentine's Day
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
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The 2025 NFL kick off starts a brand new season with fierce matchups, featuring the Eagles facing the Jets, the Bills taking on the Ravens, the Buccaneers against the Texans and the 49ers battling with the Cowboys. Fans across the country are set and ready to watch as teams return to the field, beginning the long road toward the playoffs and a shot at the Super Bowl.
The 2025 NFL season kicks off with upsets and records
On the night of Sept. 18, 2025, parents of Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) gathered for Back to School Night, an event that allows for parents to go to their children's class, meet their teachers and go through a miniature version of what their kids do every day. Along with this, tables were set up to showcase the many different pathways and opportunities that are offered at Foothill Tech.
Parents and teachers connect at Back to School Night 2025
President Donald Trump directs American flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of Charlie Kirk, political activist. The conservative Christian was mortally wounded after being shot in the neck at a “Prove Me Wrong” Turning Point USA debate event on the campus of Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025. The controversial American orator was shortly pronounced dead after being rushed to a nearby hospital in Orem, Utah.
Opinion: A salute to freedom and the legacy of Charlie Kirk
At the start of the 2025–26 school year, students at Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) were surprised to learn that new state-mandated benchmarks were put into effect through the learning program IXL. Two new assessments through this platform were introduced to students and teachers — one to measure students' English skills, and another to measure students' math skills. These tests have received mixed reviews from both students and teachers.
Adapting to IXL, VUSD's new approach
On Sept. 17, 2025 Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) students gathered to help cheer on and celebrate athletes for the fall season. Students showed their Dragon pride by wearing black and maroon colors and holding pom poms as the fall athletes ran through the banner. Dragons cheered on the girls volleyball team, boys water polo, boys and girls cross country, girls golf, and girls tennis. This is the first year that Foothill Tech has done an athletics rally.
Dragons unleash the fire at Foothill Tech’s first-ever Athletics Rally
Foothill Technology High School's (Foothill Tech) class of 2026 gathers together in front of the school, smiling with excitement and anticipation just moments before the start of their senior picnic. The seniors were ready to celebrate their final year of high school and the memories they have created along the way.
Class of 2026 celebrates a day of bonding at the annual senior picnic
More in Opinion
"100 men vs. One gorilla" was a viral debate in online internet spaces about whether or not 100 men could best a gorilla in a fight. The question first emerged in 2020 on Reddit page r/whowouldwin, and recently saw a resurgence in popular media after popular influencer Mr. Beast made a post about it on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Answering the age-old question: 100 men, or one gorilla?
As ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools take a front seat in day to day life, it's important to ask, what's the impact? AI is helping in many capacities. It is the newest search engine, the smartest and only getting smarter. It is tracking carbon and methane emissions and helping to keep climate change in check. However, does AI also play a part in the acceleration of climate change? To run these huge AI programs, it takes an enormous quantity of resources and money. Big data centers have to be built, and then these data centers require extensive amounts of water and energy to function. Inevitably, the consumption of these precious resources adds up over time.
Opinion: Is AI bad for the environment?
It’s no secret that at nutrition and lunch, sometimes trash doesn’t make it all the way into the bin. However, the amount of trash found on campus is a growing problem. Considering the efforts taken by staff to ensure students are cleaning up after themselves properly, the lack of such care to pick up trash affects both the reputation of the school and then staff’s ability to function. With various forms of plastic or cardboard lining the halls, it makes the ground difficult to navigate without getting messy in some capacity. The amount of waste also affects the planet, with litter already being found almost everywhere on the planet in some capacity.
Satire: This article is trash
Chick'n Dipp'n sauce, often seen on students lunch trays at Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech), plays the role of adding rich flavors and savory textures to the meal. The sauce is usually accompanied by chicken sandwiches, burgers or wraps, but can also be as a unusual addition to a side dish, elevating the taste of the school meal.
Satire: Chick'n-Dippin' takeover
The stage has been set – and it is irreversible. From the depths of schools and children’s playrooms emerges yet another drama, one to rival the most well-known Greek tragedies, "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone": the usurping of the pen and paper. As the sun rises on a new age of keyboards and screens, so too does it set for the era of parchment and dark velvety ink.
A Tragedy: The usurping of the pen and paper
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
About the Contributor
Amelia Gerk
Amelia Gerk, Illustrator
Class of ‘26 | Senior illustrator who loves painting, music and fashion.