October Updates From Mt. Eden

Mt. Eden High School has its own school paper called The Lion's Tale. The Hayward Herald has partnered with The Lion's Tale to share student work with the Hayward community. This month, they're covering local sports and Puente students volunteering in Half Moon Bay.

Puente Students Support Migrant Farm Workers

By Mariana Renteria

On Saturday, October 3, Puente students across all grade levels traveled to Half Moon Bay to volunteer with Ayudando Latinos A Soñar (ALAS). Puente students arrived at 7:30 am and began bagging up fruit and vegetables as they were delivered by trucks. As the donations came in, dozens of volunteers worked all morning to separate and organize the food. Hundreds of people lined up, and in the afternoon Puentistas were at their stations handing out food to all the families who came, saving them hundreds of dollars in grocery costs.

ALAS is an organization that provides free resources for families in need along the Pacific Coast. Named Non-Profit of the Year by the California State Legislature, ALAS is dedicated to “honor[ing] the hopes and dreams of Latino farmworkers and their families.” Along with the food pantry once or twice a month, ALAS provides health services, social services, cultural arts, education, mental health services and free legal consultation services.

Food Pantry Coordinator, Marisela Martinez, explained how ALAS began providing food to the community. “ALAS food pantry started in 2019, and it started with a group of volunteers from our own staff,” she said.

Volunteer coordinator, Berni Schuhman, remembered that first year. “June 2020, during the pandemic… I remember the day we hit 100,” she said. “Now we feed almost 400.”

Vivianne Cuevas and Vanessa Gomez are two MEHS Puente students who have volunteered at ALAS multiple times. Gomez said, “We gave food to people who needed it—people in need that will use it and eat it, and appreciate it.”

Puentistas also gave out books to the families with young children. The books were donated from the Puente library at Mt. Eden. Cuevas chose a few books to donate herself. “The books are very raw,” she said, “deep stories about how our world really is and I think that a lot of kids should get to know that at a very young age.”

While ALAS has been providing food for years, it was Puente students at Mt. Eden High School who began donating books so families in need will also have literature in their homes. ALAS loved the idea and provided a table for Mt. Eden volunteers and their books. Sophomore Viviana Quinones was in charge of the book table. She said, “I was doing something to actually help my community and I felt useful.”

Is High School Recruiting Obsolete?

by Ethan Abulencia

Getting recruited used to mean dominating locally and hoping a scout noticed. Not anymore. Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) money and the NCAA Transfer Portal let college coaches sign proven 22-year-old veterans instead of gambling on 18-year-old freshmen. With 30% to 40% of Division I rosters turning over via transfer each year, high school athletes face a shrinking pool of scholarships. The message is clear: education beats athletic glory as the smarter long-term play.

Mr. Norwood, AVID and Weight Training teacher, explains why: "If you're talking about football, huge physical gap...if you're talking about basketball, not so much in their data to support that...think of Kobe Bryant, think of Kevin Garnett, guys that went from high school to the league." But these examples are only a small majority of top tier talent that make it.

Mr. Duran, Leadership teacher and athletic director, has seen every path work: Dell Demps, Mahershala Ali, Esa Pole. But he keeps it real. "The reality is, I've been around our area for a long time, and the amount of people that make pro and make a living off sports is really, really small," he said. "So I would always encourage student athletes, if you can get somewhere to pay for your education—whether it's D1, D2, D3, NAIA—get it. Because your education, that will never go away."

"Every student athlete is one blown out knee, one blown out ankle, one messed up shoulder, one Tommy John surgery from losing everything," he warned. "So if you get an education, then you can secure your future."

Lorenzo Matienzo, one of Mt. Eden's best, proved Duran right. He walked away from the game after one Junior College (JUCO) workout. "When I first thought about playing at the next level, I honestly thought JUCO would be easy to make," he said. "However, showing up to a JUCO workout really opened my eyes to the different levels of basketball and how much competition there is beyond high school."

But Matienzo pivoted. "After that workout, I took a step back and realized that basketball might not be the path I want to continue pursuing," he said. "Right now, I'm focusing my energy on building my career in firefighting and continuing my education." Lorenzo didn't lose, he chose saving lives over scoring points. That's a real win.

Monarch Comeback Comes Up Short.

By Gabriel Garcia

Early season woes continue to ravage Mt. Eden, as the Boys Varsity Football team dropped their fifth straight loss dating back to last season. But a late offensive surge gave the Monarch faithful a point of pride despite the loss. They ultimately failed to complete the comeback, but this team still has some fight in them.

Mt. Eden Monarchs v. American High Eagles

After a bye week, the Monarchs took to the home field once again on Friday, September 25th against the American High School Eagles. It seemed as if the Monarchs were in for yet another dreadful game during the first quarter, as American jumped ahead 0-6 with a touchdown and a failed 2-point conversion. Mt. Eden failed to respond, but their defense clamped down on American, preventing any more points from getting on the board for the rest of the quarter.

The second quarter came and went without any additional points on the board. Mt. Eden’s 34 yard drive off the back of Isaiah Gonzalez came within 22 yards of American’s end zone, but ultimately fell short of a first down. American then took the ball 70 yards downfield, coming within just eight yards of Mt. Eden’s end zone. But the Monarch defense clutched up, as the Eagles made four straight incomplete passes to turn the ball over on downs.

The third quarter began with American looking to extend their lead, but a brilliant interception by Jonathan Lopez put the Monarchs 29 yards from tying the game. But Mt. Eden failed to capitalize on the situation, as American recovered the ball on a fumbled handoff play. American extended their lead soon after, when a pass to Julian Poli saw him break away from the Monarch defense to complete a soul-crushing 63 yard touchdown to put them up 0-12.

During the fourth quarter, American recovered the ball from a failed punt attempt by Mt. Eden, putting them only 20 yards away from the end zone. American completed their 20 yard drive with a touchdown that almost put the game out of reach at 0-18 with just under 8 minutes left on the clock.

The Monarchs next possession saw them complete a 67 yard drive ending with a pass taken 43 yards for a touchdown. A successful two-point conversion made the score 8-18 with just under four and a half minutes left.

“I think scoring that first time boosted the entire team’s confidence, you know? Just getting the ball back, we were still down 2 scores but we felt like the game isn’t over, so we still got to compete.” Kith continued.

Mt. Eden then performed an onside kick to regain possession of the ball. Then the Monarchs completed a 42 yard run for a touchdown. Another two-point conversion put the score at 16-18, this time with two and a half minutes left. Mt. Eden attempted another onside kick, but the ball was recovered by American, and the Monarchs failed to regain possession. The final score was 16-18.

Monarch Varsity Football Summary