Meet the New Staff: Officer Esparza
by Jessenia Varela-Gomez
Mr. Nathaniel Esparza is Fresno High’s new school resource officer. He was born in Clovis, California. As a child he wanted to be a musician as he played guitar and would even do talent shows. He also thought about becoming a baseball player despite never playing and still thinks about it now. He attended Fresno State University before attending Fresno Police Academy at Fresno City College.
He became a police officer because he loves being able to help people and wanted a job where he would wake up and enjoy the work he does and not dread it. He has been a police officer for eight years now. Prior to his work at Fresno High, he worked at Hamilton Elementary School for a few months. He also worked on the Fair Housing Section 8 program. He believes his best quality is his compassion, which he always tries to have. His biggest influence is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He loves that he used peaceful protest and used love despite the hate he received. He feels this is deeply connected to his job due to a lot of people having a negative opinion of police officers.
In 10 years, he hopes to still be in law enforcement and possibly a new position, but he is only taking it one day at a time. He also wishes to one day go to the Universal Studio in Japan and go on the Mario Kart ride where you can ride the go kart. In his free time, he also enjoys playing guitar, barbequing, riding bicycles, cooking, training dogs and putting on a Star Wars event with his community service group at Valley Children's Hospital.
Officer Esparza expressed, "Thank you for having me and I'm always available if anyone needs me.”
Universal Studios Field Trip
by Arwen Cooper
On Saturday, May 3, the Fresno High Drama Club took their yearly field trip to Universal Studios. It started with a bright and early meetup time of 6:15 AM in front of the school. Once everyone arrived, the group boarded the bus and relaxed during the drive to the first rest stop. Here, a 15-minute rest stop was allowed and the majority of people got breakfast. After getting back on the bus, it was about an hour ride left to Universal before the group arrived. It was a nice overcast 70 degrees with a slight mist of rain all day.
After getting through security, Mrs. Pullinger handed out the tickets, everyone split into small groups, and they were off to enjoy Universal until the 4:30 PM meetup time at the exit to leave. Throughout the day, groups went on rides, ate the expensive park food, met characters, and went shopping for souvenirs. For some, it was their first time at Universal. Like Benji Inpadith, who said, “It was fun to experience rides for the first time like other people, without throwing up every other second.”
At the meetup time, everyone returned to the exit for a group picture and a head count. They then all boarded the bus, and most people slept for the hour until the 30-minute stop at the rest stop for dinner. After dinner, the whole bus was silent due to everyone sleeping on the way back. It remained this way until returning to Fresno High School at 8:30 PM, where everyone went home after a great day.
UPDATE
All but 2 yearbooks have been distributed! See Mama B in IA6 if you haven’t picked yours up!
Yearbook Almost Here
by Arwen Cooper
It’s time. The 2025 Fresno High School yearbook is complete. All edits are finalized, and the yearbooks have been ordered. The last day to buy them for $77.00 was May 2, however it's not too late. Yearbooks can still be ordered on Treering for $83.11. The only reason for the price change is that now anyone who orders has to pay shipping. If the yearbook was ordered by May 16, it will be shipped to the school and distributed on May 27. If the yearbook was ordered after May 16, it will be shipped to the buyer's home address, so make sure the shipping address is correct when you order.
Yearbooks can be ordered from Treering online or by scanning any of the numerous QR codes around campus. The pass code to order is 1016234335713821. Don’t miss out on the 250-page labor of love.
Personal Project
by Julianna Kirk
Towards the end of the school year, Freshman students at Fresno High start preparing for their Sophomore Personal Project. The Personal Project is a project students spend time outside of school creating. The process of the project starts with picking a teacher at Fresno High to be your supervisor. Throughout the project, students will meet with their supervisor at least three times; supervisors give advice and suggestions to ensure a good grade on the project. As the project progresses students take pictures to document the process of the project. At the end of the project, students write a page essay explaining the process of their project and anything they learned from creating it.
Many students choose to do their projects on a skill already learned, but Sophomore Adam Gardea chose to build a wooden hanging shelf for display purposes. “I enjoyed the process, even though it was a short project I learned better carpentry work and how to screw better,” he shared. It took Adam 15 hours to build the shelf and explained how simple it was to build the shelf.