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

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter

Class of ‘27 | Second-year reporter and professional poser

All content by Viggo Bortolin
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

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
September 19, 2025
Charlie Kirk was a founder of TPUSA, a non-profit that pushed conservative ideology in American High Schools, Colleges and Universities. This organization hosted Kirk's famous "Prove Me Wrong" debates which ended with Kirk's assassination at the Utah Valley University during one of these debates.

Foothill Tech reacts to the death of Charlie Kirk in a moment of reflection

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
September 12, 2025
The class of 2026 gathered on Pierpont beach during the early hours of the morning on Aug. 15, 2025, participating in a long lasting school tradition of watching the sunrise. The sunrise symbolically starts their last year at Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) and is a tradition planned by the Associated Student Body (ASB) that most seniors look forward to every year.

Foothill Tech witnesses the dawn of a new senior class at Senior Sunrise 2026

Evelyn Whatley and Viggo Bortolin
August 17, 2025
Aug. 13, 2025 marked the official beginning of the 2025-2026 school year for Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) as well as the rest of the Ventura Unified School District (VUSD). Around campus, numerous staff members could be seen showing off their school spirit, wearing astronaut attire to acknowledge the school’s theme of the year, “Chasing the Stars.” Foothill Tech's Associated Student Body (ASB) went above and beyond with decorations, covering the halls with balloons, streamers and stars with every student's name written on them, highlighting ASB’s dedication to creating a welcoming environment for new and returning students.

Dragons begin “Chasing the Stars” as the 2025-2026 school year starts at Foothill Tech

Bailey Basurto, Angela Hua, Rebeca Hu, Evelyn Whatley, Viggo Bortolin, and Natalie St. Pierre
August 15, 2025
On the cloudy afternoon of June 4, 2025, Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) seniors, along with their friends and families, gathered at the Ventura College field to celebrate four years of classes, homework, late nights and extracurriculars coming to an end with the most anticipated event of senior year: graduation. This event is often considered bittersweet for those involved, as it marks the entry into adulthood, where classmates begin to move across the country or beyond to seek education and work. Seen above is Hailey Hall '25, who gave the opening student speech, as she had served as the elected Associate Student Body (ASB) class president for the duration of her senior year. In her remarks, she highlighted the bittersweet notes of moving on from high school, referencing the unique experiences Foothill Tech students have faced throughout their 4 years.

Admist the cheers of family and friends, the Foothill Tech Class of 2025 celebrates their last steps in high school

Viggo Bortolin and Oliver Kelley
June 6, 2025
On Friday, May 23, 2025, Foothill Technology High School’s (Foothill Tech) Associated Student Body (ASB) held the annual Air Guitar. Air Guitar is a talent show held at the end of the school year signifying that the end of the school year is approaching. Pictures above is Dylan Arevalo ‘26, known as lil pickle, performing his own rap song. Arevalo went on to win the "fan favorite" award by the end of the show.

Streamers, palm trees and food trucks: Coachella themed Air Guitar 2025 rocks the campus

Viggo Bortolin and Maggie Lay
May 25, 2025
On May 9, 2025, DTech Academy Capstone (DTech) Dynasty seven students gathered in Spirito Hall to pitch their final projects. These projects included a process book, foam model, stickers, branded shirts and a prototype of a lamp that was emulated into the likeness of a preexisting brand. Above is Brandon Wofford's '25 emulation of "Google" into his lamp under the name "Halo."

DTech Dynasty seven presents the culmination of their senior projects at the 2025 Prototype Trade Show

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
May 11, 2025
On April 26, 2025, the anticipated prom was held at The Majestic Ventura Theater to welcome students for their night of an "Enchanted Forest Prom." Each student was checked in and welcomed by the Associative Student Body (ASB) where they received wrist bands and were directed towards coat check. The venue was decorated with vines and flowers to leave the Dragons feeling "enchanted" throughout their night.

Dragons enjoy an enchanted night at Prom 2025

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
April 27, 2025
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

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
April 24, 2025
On April 17, 2025, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys tennis team played against Bishop Diego High School (Bishop Diego.) Pictured above, the team engages in their traditional group huddle shortly after announcing their lines. They would go on to win 14 sets of 18.

Boys tennis continues successes to destroy Bishop Diego 14-4

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
April 19, 2025
On April 14, 2025 Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys tennis team went against Cate School (Cate). Doubles partners Dylan Files '26 and Gregory Davis '26 cheer each other on as they prepare for the next set. Although they lost this match, they continued to communicate on the court between points and persisted through.

Boys tennis takes it one game at a time on the way to CIF

Conor White and Viggo Bortolin
April 18, 2025
On April 5, 2025, a series of nearly 1,400 protests against the Trump administration, took place across the nation. These protests focused on cuts to the Department of Veteran Affairs, low taxation of billionaires, abortion rights, changes to schools integration of DEI classes and more. In short, these protests demanded the government take their "Hands Off" these issues. Shown above is Ventura, Calif., here nearly 1,400 protesters gather in front of the government center to rally with the thousands across the nation.

Nationwide protests against the Trump administration resonate in Ventura with the demand of “Hands Off!”

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
April 7, 2025
On the sunny afternoon of March 7, 2025, students took turns competing to see who could sink the first basket on the inflatable basketball court during Foothill Technology High School's (Foothill Tech) final Renaissance Rally. With a Spirit Week helping students get in-theme for the Rally, the events and festivities are designed to reward students with their academic achievement so far in the school year. This energetic match up drew a crowd of people cheering for both individuals and became a standout moment for Foothill Tech's organized event.

Dragons celebrate academic success with a Beatles inspired Spirit Week and Ren Rally

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
March 9, 2025
On Feb. 25, 2025, the Ventura Unified School District (VUSD) opened the floor to the public at the Board Meeting discussing Resolution #25-03. The resolution debates for reduction of certain certified services at the elementary, middle and high school level to help allocate money for budget cuts. The meeting garnered attendance of students, teachers and families, many of whom came with signs or wearing red to show support for those who were targeted by Resolution #25-03. Though the final decision of the budget cuts was to save elementary and secondary school counselors as well as teacher librarians, the Board and the district still have a long way to go before all the issues become resolved.

The Board of Education passes controversial Resolution #25-03 due to budget cuts, leaving students and faculty in uncertainty

Maggie Lay, Bailey Basurto, Viggo Bortolin, Ella Asher, Shea Stevenson, and Aubrey Alderman
February 27, 2025
On Feb. 8, 2025, the Ventura Downtown Lions Club ran the annual Bowl To Strike Out Cancer fundraiser at Buena Lanes. This year's fundraiser was the largest in its 17-year history, raising $9,000 from the nearly 200 attendees' purchase of day passes, raffles and engagement in silent auctions and donations. This money went to local services that support cancer survivors and patients in the Ventura area, including the Ronald McDonald Family Room and the City of Hope.

Communities come together at Bowl To Strike Out Cancer 2025

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
February 10, 2025
Shown above is Wayne Powers' room, in this moment shrouded in darkness as it had been during the on and off power outages from Jan. 13-17, 2025. The environment shows the conditions Powers, and many others, had to learn and teach in during the week of power outages.

Dry Santa Ana winds bring high fire risk and mass power outages to Foothill Tech

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
January 22, 2025
The IDEA Academy is a three year math and science pathway at DATA, described by many to be reliant on aspects like coring and block schedule. On Nov. 26, the student site council at DeAnza voted to keep block schedule, a win for IDEA and its supporters.

New schedule changes at DATA have left VUSD and families divided

Viggo Bortolin, Oliver Kelley, and Kellen Spears
January 2, 2025
The annual Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) Winter Formal took place in the Ventura Music Hall on Dec. 7, 2024, with the theme of Winter Wonderland. The space was decorated with tinsel garlands and assortments of snacks for the students at the seating area. Loral Karian '25 commmented, "the location was really good. I think it's probably the best we've had so far." Many deemed this dance as a great success with the venue choice and pictured in the photo, students rushed to the dance floor with a date or friend for the slow song "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars.

Dragons dance through a wonderland at Winter Formal 2024

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
December 8, 2024
Throughout the year, many seniors progressively suffer from a disease known as senioritis. The symptoms of such an affliction may include a lack of motivation to do work, turning in late assignments and general burnout after completing three years of high school already. With just one last year to complete before starting adult life, they try to skate by on the bare minimum to enjoy one final year of being a teenager before being thrown into society as an adult. Whether they will be joining the workforce, going to college, taking a gap year or doing something else, senioritis is one final thing that plenty of seniors suffer through.

Senioritis in Foothill Tech: A not so menacing, yet thriving ailment

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
November 1, 2024
On the bright morning of Oct. 23, 2024, Vitalant did its semi-annual blood donation event at Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech). Students who signed up were called in at different times to generously give blood to those in need. Arrows were placed surrounding different trailers, helping guide students.

Dragons help save up to 117 lives at the biannual Vitalant Blood Drive

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
October 24, 2024
On the night of Oct. 18, 2024, Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) students gather together for the annual Halloween Dance. With various costumes and unique outfits, students enjoy this night of dancing under a full moon and socializing with friends.

A “Thriller” of a night: Foothill Tech’s 2024 Halloween dance

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
October 20, 2024
Ventura College (VC) has historically been the go-to school for dually enrolled Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) students looking for college or high school credit outside of the school day. VC's high school population may have to change their plans with new rules coming in soon.

With the end of a ruling held by Foothill Tech, classes begin to shift away from dual-enrollment

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
October 9, 2024
On Sept. 28, 2024, filmmakers from around Ventura County gathered for the Central Coast International Film Festival. Pictured is the outside the main theater, where the films' posters were set and interviews took place. On the left is the primary poster for the Feature Film of the festival: "Superpowers Aren't A Thing" directed by Lorenzo Gonzalez.

A new ally to local filmmakers: The Central Coast International Film Festival

Viggo Bortolin, Reporter
October 1, 2024
Aug. 14, 2024 marked the first official day back to school for the 2024-2025 school year for all Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) students as well as the whole Ventura Unified School District (VUSD). Students flooded the gates a few weeks earlier than anticipated due to the schedule change, which prompted a new school calendar. Nevertheless, students still arrived with all the first day jitters, new school supplies and fresh outfits to show off in this new school year. Along with this excitement, the Associated Student Body (ASB) took extra time out of their summer break to prepare the school and decorate the buildings to match the year's theme of “Year of the Records”. With posters and decorations, as well as staff members dressing up to match said theme, students were inspired for the new year even if they were not totally ready to end their summer break.

Kicking off the first day: Foothill Tech prepares for a record-breaking year

Maggie Lay, Ella Asher, Shea Stevenson, Bailey Basurto, Aubrey Alderman, Viggo Bortolin, and Natalie St. Pierre
August 15, 2024
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Viggo Bortolin