Laredo ISD The Phoenix Quarterly - Home - Laredo Early ...earlycollege.elisd.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server... · memories of our parents, and those before them. Although the newer

By: Dalila Flores

The Old Mercy hospital is a historic landmark that holds the memories of our parents, and those before them. Although the newer generations may not know about the impact of this hospital, it is time for all gener-ations to say farewell by learn-ing some interesting tidbits about the building. The old mercy hospital closed down in 1998, and as a replacement, a new Mercy Hospital opened up on Saun-ders street. The old hospital still stands today, in ruins, and is owned by Laredo Lomas Properties. In the earlier 2000’s, mostly teenagers and young adults, found it fun to explore the 7 floors of the supposed haunted building. According to first hand accounts, the building was oddly cold, and sounds/slams were often heard, which could be the reason as to why people believed it was haunted. The creepiest occurrences have been in the morgue, where the sounds of footsteps could be heard running behind the tres-passing guests. The hospital was managed by the Sisters of Mercy, who worked at other Mercy hospi-tals. Towards the end of the

building's usage, the nuns stopped working there, but still came in to pray for the patients. During this time, the patients complained about a little girl running down the hall, on the third floor, but it seemed impossible since chil-dren weren't allowed to stay that late. Call buttons would often go off, even when com-pletely shut off, and nuns in the shadows would quickly disappear. Visitors of this abandoned building have reported to have experienced sights of blood smeared on the walls, fleeting screams, and an un-welcoming aura that followed them everywhere. Whether the building is actually haunt-ed is completely up to opin-ion.

Nowadays, the idea of sneak-ing into the worn down hospital is nearly impossible, since there are police constantly stationed there, who will arrest anyone who tres-pass on private property. The building is now considered a hazard, and a danger to the pub-lic. The city wants the owner to either fix the building or hand it over to them. Sadly, the near future will probably not have an Old Mercy Hospital for people to sneak into, but don’t worry. There are plenty of old, supposedly haunted places to visit in Laredo.

Volume 1, Issue 3

The Spooky Scenes Behind a City Oldie

GECHS Students Save Lives By: Alcides Lezcano

Four times a year, GECHS students sign up to save lives. The blood given by our brave students is sold to local hospitals who in turn use it for patients in need. You first start off by filling out paperwork to see if you qualify to do-nate. This means that people who have been sick, are on medicine, have had a surgery, or have had a tattoo cannot donate at that time. This is to prevent disease or infections. Then the nurses test you for anemia. If you pass that, then you can donate.

Though a needle might scare some of us, according to the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center (STBTC), donating is completely safe. The STBTC’s website states that “all supplies used to collect blood are new, completely sterile and used only once. There is no risk of disease transmission to a do-nor.” Please take your time and donate. Help save a life!

March 22, 2018

L a r e d o I S D

The Phoenix Quarterly H.J. Garcia Early College High School

A Day in the Life... 2

Review: Black Panther 2

What’s Happening... 2

Your Triple Ds 3

2017 Winter Formal 3

2017-2018 Science Fair 3

Tech Tips 4

Healthy Living 4

Counselors’ Corner 4

Principal’s Desk 4

Inside This Issue

South Texas Blood & Tissue Center

Photo by: Alcides Lezcano

Nationally Recognized Blue Ribbon School

Photo: Courtesy of Victor Strife of LMT

By: Isabelle Burton

Sophomores are in their sec-

ond year at GECHS and they are

getting the hang of how college

courses work.

Many of them are taking the

following courses: Music Theory,

Psychology, and Speech. Some

even take College Algebra if

they’re TSI ready.

It is with these classes that

they first learn to time manage,

hopefully. This becomes a crucial

key to success for a college stu-

dent. Even though they have taken

only two college classes, many

might assume that it is all easy,

but they are challenged a lot more

than typical sophomores at a com-

prehensive high school.

GECHS sophomores are dedi-

cated in working towards their

future and want to commit to hav-

ing a career they love. When asked

about how GECHS life is, two

anonymous sophomores agreed:

“It’s stressful, but we manage.

This gives us a high school experi-

ence that we could never have at a

normal high school.”

Mrs. Moreno, a teacher who

works with many of the sopho-

mores advises them to “pay atten-

tion” in class “because it will help

if they’re listening and taking

notes.” This is great advice for any

student.

GECHS sophomores are work-

ing hard towards succeeding at both

the high school and college level.

Good luck sophomores! Keep up

the great work.

eni Jewish communities claimed that their children were stolen by European Jewish adults without children. Their prosecutor's office agreed to open up the graves to further investigate after 17 fami-lies requested for it. The families claim that their deceased children were stolen, and some believe them to still be alive because there were no death certificates. It is still unknown as to when the graves will be reopened.

By: Dalila Flores The world is constantly in chaos, but it also has its moments that shock people in a good way. In China, two monkeys named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua were cloned in a laboratory using the method that created Dolly the sheep. This was done in order to have a better understanding of genetic-based diseases; however, the method is controversially dangerous. For now, the mon-keys are bottle fed and are grow-ing normally. Moving onto the Israel, when it was first founded, many Yem-

Page 2

Review: Black Panther Hits It Big

A Day in the Life of a GECHS Sophomore

What’s Happening in the World

claims his throne is well

thought out.

Though the movie had a

few flaws like lengthy speech-

es and dialogue which can

bore a typical Marvel Comic

Universe (MCU) fan.

My overall rating of the

movie would have to be two

words instead of numbers.

Totally Awesome!

By: Eric Cedillo

This science fiction/action film packs a powerful punch. The movie stays true to action with its intense fight scenes and stays true to science fiction with its awe inspiring use of advanced technology. Some great reasons for watch-

ing this movie: (1) it has action

packed fight scenes (2) the film

has great special effects that

makes the world of Wakanda

come to life (3) the plot—

T’Challa (Black Panther) re-

The Phoenix Quarter ly

Volume 1, I ssue 3

TAMIU and the city of Laredo exhibited the movie “Coco” in a pic-nic mania! Although it was on February 23rd, there will still be many more opportunities in the near future. Check out the TAMIU website. They’re always doing cool activities and

events, and many of them are FREE! IMPORTANT!!! There’s been a terrible craze and fad going around these last few months. People are daring each other to eat TIDE pods. It is EXTREMELY DANGER-OUS, and we advise you to NOT DO THIS!!

Don’t eat tide pods,

of education. We could holograph-ically project the human body sys-tems and learn in a more in-depth scale without an actual cadav-er. Ms. Reyes took home a first place prize for her vision of the future in science. GECHS took a total of 30 repre-sentatives to the district science fair, and 12 were awarded. Although Grand Champion was taken by J.W. Nixon, our Garcia Early College took home the majority of the plac-ings throughout all categories within the high school division. GECHS Junior, Francisco Colunga presented his project on how Music Affects the Brain. He placed 3rd in the Behavioral Science Division. Colunga advises “to really look into the specific details of your

By: Dana Moreno To begin with, Winter Formal 2018 had to be the best winter formal that the GECHS Student Council has thrown. This year’s theme was “The Roaring 20s.” There was an 1920s attire con-test, and all the contestants looked 1920s fabulous. The Winter Formal offered students a chance at a photo booth, and a great time of danc-ing with a great DJ. Though some students couldn’t agree with the type of music played,

Page 3

Winter Formal: The 1920s Comes to Life

Your Triple Ds: Your Daily Dose of Denise

instead, eat these tide pod themed conchas! -Denise Martinez

GECHS at the 2017-2018 Science Fair By: Dana Moreno The annual L.I.S.D. Secondary Science Fair has taken place, and it has left a sweet taste in the mouths of many. Projects displayed showed a great number of insight to the topics that wowed many of the judges. Roselynn Reyes, a sophomore from Ms. Madriaga’s ACC Sci-ence class produced a project enti-tled, “Future of Communications Using Light.” Reyes’ project fo-cused on holographic imaging using an intricate set of circuit boards and home materials and how this concept can help military personnel see their family from long distances on a more personal level. It could also help in the field

everyone had a great time dancing with each other. The snacks were a nice treat, and the time away from the class-room is always a plus. Hopefully next year there can be two photo booths since the line did get quite long. It gets a little difficult to have a line of 100 or more stu-dents waiting to take photos with their friends. Overall, this year’s Winter Formal had an astonishing envi-ronment where people could truly be themselves and have a great

time. Many thanks to Student Council for an outstanding event. Bravo!

Photo Courtesy of Marco Pena

topic. Make sure you research care-fully.” All this can definitely help you place. Out of the seven categories pre-sented at the science fair GECHS took home the most trophies and ti-tles. The list of winners is displayed on our hallway screens as a form of recognition to those students that participated and placed. As the years continue to pass we continue to grow and improve in the number of winners for competitions like these. The entire student body is proud of the achieve-ments of those whom competed. On behalf of the Phoenix Quar-terly, we want to congratulate all those who work effortlessly for

weeks to present at the L.I.S.D. Sec-ondary Science Fair.

We have so much information on how to take care of our

health. What to eat, what not to eat, what to drink, what not

to drink, but the fat is, no one has the exact same system.

Most products we buy have a Nutritional Fact Label that

informs us of the products nutritional value(s). This chart

will help you understand the general points.

Our lives are essentially a collection of notes, thoughts,

photos and random ideas. Keeping those little scraps of data

sorted on a day to day basis can be a real chore. Welcome to

Google Keep; your organized pile of digital sticky

notes. Google Keep lets you take notes, voice clips, make

check lists, add photos and make hand written notations from

any mobile device or computer. You can easily index the

notes, label them and search through them whenever you

need. Your notes are always in reach; if you have access to

the internet, you can access your notes. Give Google Keep a

try on the web at keep.google.com or download the app to

your mobile device from the Google Play store or the iTunes

store.

TECH TIPS By: Kerry Bonugli

HEALTHY LIVING By: Nurse Cena

-Mrs. Leal (9th & 10th Grade Counselor)

COUNSELORS’ CORNER

From the Principal’s Desk

“Note to Self: You gotta do this for

you. This is for you. This isn’t about

anybody. Live for you. Honor you.

Never lose sight of that.”

- HPLYRIKZ.com

You only live once,

and nobody lives

your life but you.

-Mrs. Dominguez (11th & 12th Grade Counselor)

Sponsor: Mrs. S. Villanueva Editor: Isabelle Burton

"I can't fix all your problems but I can promise you won't have to face them all alone." -Unknown

Our school will now offer Communities in Schools as an additional resource to help our students succeed in their academic goals, as well as support social and emotional growth throughout the school year. I look forward to helping our students succeed in meeting their own personal goals for this school year and beyond.

Rosie Guzman, CIS Coordinator

(956) 273-7740

“Develop a passion for

learning. If you do, you

will never cease to

grow.”

-Anthony J. D’Angelo