Journalism recently interviewed Sergio about his life in ALC and what he’s up to now.

Journalism: Was ALC your first decision when choosing high schools from the Belmont Zone of choice? Or did someone choose for you? Are you glad with your/their decision?

Sergio Medrano: I actually did not get to choose because my older brother, Carlos Pineda, was in the AVID program in Belmont and since AVID moved to ALC, he went along and so did I. I am glad I came to ALC because I built strong relationships not only with other students but also with the teachers, who always knew what my abilities were and pushed me to become not only a better student but also a better person. If it wasn’t for ALC I wouldn’t have realized how much I love to learn new things and I ultimately wouldn’t have discovered my interest in making videos.

Journalism: What was your first year like here in ALC? How did you get along with others and/or teachers?

Sergio Medrano: My 1st year was strange at first because it was a new school, new teachers and new people, but I was fortunate enough to discover that our teachers were great, wanted the best for us and they had a sense of humor. So me, being a funny guy, made it a lot easier to talk to them. It also helped that my brother was attending there too along with some friends from middle school.

Journalism: How well did the teachers help you as you progressed from year to year? Is there anyone that helped you especially that has given you lessons you follow today?

Sergio Medrano: The teachers were great because they kept telling me, “you’re doing good, but I know you can do a lot better if you really tried,” and it reflected on my work. They were honest and tough with me, which is something I appreciate, because it prepared me for college. Ms. Drinkward was probably the most influential of all my teachers because, she taught me to better develop my writing skills in 9th grade and 12th grade which has made me one of the best story tellers and essay writers in all my college classes. Out of 10 essays I’ve written I have only gotten 1 B and the rest are pure A’s ranging from 97-100%.

Journalsim: How and why did you get started in making videos for the school? Did you already have an interest in it before or did someone in school bring the interest of making videos to you?

ALC class of 2010 graduate Sergio Medrano

Sergio Medrano: Like most things, I get involved from joking around. In 12th grade me and a group of friends would hang out on Tuesday before football practice and joke around as usual but one day a friend of mine, Jocelyn Platez, took out her camera and recorded me trying to be the crocodile hunter, running around and making fun of things. That’s when I realized “Wow ,why don’t we do this more often?” So every Tuesday we would get together and record me being funny and it evolved to me starting P. Wagon Ent. which was me and my friends doing funny thing and posting the videos on youtube. Then I started thinking, “Why don’t I just start editing the videos?” because sometimes we have awkward pauses, so I taught myself how to edit and I wrote down all of my ideas to use for future videos. Now I call my group TTJA Inc. (which stands for: Terrifying Team of Justice and Awesomeness) on youtube where you can find a lot of sketch comedy videos and music videos. The ALC video started at MC’s Homecoming football game. I approached Ms. Drinkward and Ms. Martinez and jokingly told them to allow me to do a pre-game show for the varsity game which we would broadcast online at a later time, they of course said no (jokingly of course) and then we started talking about how I was going to major in Marine Biology and Minor in Film and one thing led to another and that’s when they asked me if I would want to make the ALC recruitment video.

Journalism: Do you still have an interest in making videos? Have you made any recent videos, either for the school or independently? Do you still plan to make videos in the future?

Sergio Medrano: I have a huge interest in making videos, I make a new independent comedy video on youtube every two weeks. I am currently working on three scripts, two are web series and one is an actual movie. At the time I am independently directing and editing a music video for a song one of my friends has recently made. I actually plan on combining both marine biology and film careers to hopefully one day direct and edit ocean documentaries,t.v. shows and videos for National Geographic, Discovery Channel or the Animal Planet while still creating my own action comedy videos on the side.

Journalsim: When you were a student here, Did you only have one school in mind or did you apply to as many as you could?

Sergio Medrano: I attended ALC from 2006-2010 and graduated. I was interested in two Cal States when I was applying for college but I decided to apply to 5 just in case.

Journalism: What college do you currently go to? What courses do you currently take? Are you taking specific courses for a career in mind, or still trying to discover what your career is going to be?

Sergio Medrano: I got into 4 and only got denied from Cal State Long Beach. I immediately said yes to Cal State Monterrey Bay, but last minute found out they were not going to let me attend because of 1 D I received in English in 10th grade. So now I am attending LACC and will be transferring to San Diego State which has a great marine biology program along with a film program and I will hopefully be given a chance to intern at Sea World. I am currently taking Philosophy, Sociology, Political Science and Psychology which are great classes. I’m trying to do all my General Ed. classes so when I transfer I will only be focusing on classes having to do with my major.

Journalism: What aspect of being in college do you enjoy the most? How different is it from high school life?

Sergio Medrano: I enjoy the fact that I don’t have teachers constantly telling me to do things- I like doing them because I want to, not because they are telling me to. I also like the fact that I get a lot of free time to study and spend time with family and friends. I also get to go out when I want to and attend parties where I meet new and interesting types of people.

Journalism: Has your experience in ALC affected/prepared you enough for college life? Do you stay in contact with anyone here in ALC, friends, teachers, etc.?

Sergio Medrano: ALC mentally and academically prepared me for college. It helped me be a good student, deal with stress easily, organize, create good study habits and helped me improve my socialization skills. I actually visit Ms. Drinkward, Mr. Ly, and Ms. Martinez quite often. I hang out with my closest friend from high school almost every week.

Journalism: Do you miss anything from high school that isn’t in college life?

Sergio Medrano: One thing I miss about high school that you don’t get in College is that ALC teachers always cared about us, the students. I miss playing on the football team, getting 9 hours of sleep and easy homework. One thing I do not miss is all the drama you face in high school because in college you don’t see a lot of it.

Journalism: Do you have any final thoughts/words of wisdom to give to students to prepare for college life?

Sergio Medrano: If an opportunity is given to you I recommend you take it because you never know what will happen and what you will experience which could help you in the future. Never give up on your dreams or goals but also be realistic and find ways to reach them.

ALC Journalism: What will you remember from 2011?

Ms. Ocampo: “From 2011, I will most remember my Avid class graduating.”

Braulio Hernandez (9^th): “From 2011, I will most remember Christmas because it was a lot of fun.”

Mr. Callum: “”My Packers winning the Superbowl.”

Daniel Pena (9^th): “I will remember the first day of high school.”

Abraham Martin (9th): “My first day of school and my friends.”

Ms. Siqueiros: “I will remember the first day of leadership development during the fall semester.”

Huriel Diego (12^th): “My games under the lights.”

David Garcia (11^th): “That it wasn’t as much fun as I thought it was going to be.”

Gildardo Hernandez (11^th): “From 2011 I will remember the zombie dance at lunch with my teachers. It was my favorite part of the year.”

Ms. Lozoya: “From 2011 I will remember all the nice students and staff at ALC.”

Humberto Pech (12th): “From this year, I will remember going camping with my pathways during the summer.”

Ms. Martinez: “From this year, I will remember that after 2 long years, my parents are finally healthy and cancer free.”

April Ramirez (12th): “From this year, I will remember joining track and cross country. It was a new experience.”

Ms. Patty Trevino: “Osama Bin Laden’s death puts an end to the fighting and people are coming home to their family.”

Marlene Ramirez (10th): “I’ll miss football games and winter sports.”

Cris Guzman (11th): “Getting my driver license.”

Ms. Kochick: “It was the year that occupy LA started , they were occupying all across the country. It was important to me because people were standing against inequality.”

Leyla Perez (11th): “I will remember the fun times i had with my friends and the bad times: My bad grades. I’ll also remember my best summer.”

Gina Avalos (11^th): “Building new friendships and my first time joining sports. Also having an awesome summer break, so many memories were made.”

Jonathan Orozco: “I remember a lot of things , but the one thing I remember the most is the is the mixed feeling before coming back to school– feeling excited and nervous and happy for entering school again.”

Miriam De Leon (9^th): “All the adventures I had throughout that year.”

Date: Thursday, January 26, 2012

Time: 6pm-8pm

Location: 322 S Lucas Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90017

Free medical screenings:diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, and body mass index.

Mr. Castillo likes to get involved in the community

This year he had his pathways students research unknown leaders to find out more about their lives and how they became leaders. At first students did not like the idea of doing the research of a leader because they thought it was boring. However, at the end students got into the research and found out  things they didn’t know. Castillo explains why he wanted students to choose a leader for his class: “Eleventh grade Pathways is called Leadership Pathways and I wanted my students to choose the people that they felt encompass the leadership skills that we want them to have. Most importantly, I wanted them to choose people that we would not think of as leaders.”

One student did research of Selena, a Mexican American singer and songwriter. Another student did research about Spike Lee, an African American film director, producer, writer, and actor. Mr. Castillo explains what he wants his pathways student to do next: “I want students to take a leadership role on an issue that they feel strongly about…students will choose an issue and begin the process of making some sort of change within their respected [beliefs].” check back for updates.

Mr. Mickner

Journalism: What made you be an art teacher ?

Mr . Mickner : I decided that I wanted to teach what I love to learn about.

One of Mr. Mickner's drawings

Journalism id you live with your parents while being in college ?

Mr. Mickner : No, I lived in the college dorms my freshman year, then moved into an apartment with friends for the following years.

Journalism:  If not how did you manage to live on your own ?

Mr. Mickner :I have worked since I was 14 and saved money.  I also worked during the summers between semesters to afford my apartment.

Journalism :How was high school for you?

Mr. Mickner: High school was easy.  Every lesson was set in place by the teachers, I just had to show up and pass the classes.  The hard part was staying awake since I worked two jobs, one before school and one after.

Journalism :Were you into art by then ?

Mr. Mickner : Yes, I have always loved art.  I was constantly drawing in study hall, lunch, and class.  I had Art throughout all my years of school.  I was able to choose Art as a minor in high school.

One of Mr. Mickner's ceramic bowls

Journalism : What’s your favorite artist / art work ?

Mr. Mickner : Ismau Noguchi would probably be my favorite if you make me choose, but that is a difficult choice because there are many amazing artists in the world.

artournalism :What kind of art do you like best and why ?

Mr. Mickner :I like 3-D art such as sculpture the best.  I think nothing is more fun than building something.  I think murals are the best to look at.  I have a lot of respect for artists who make large wall paintings.

A Sculpture Lantern by Mr. Mickner

So, in a way to redeem our honor, and because the auditions didn’t technically happen, there’s going to be a re-host later. Hopefully the judges will actually show up on time, along with equipment, AND ACTUAL CONTESTANTS. C’mon people, if I’m willing to make myself look ridiculous why not you? This annoys me, I had my maracas and everything.  Now unless you want me to be our school mascot by default, without even knowing what sort of poppin’ fresh moves I have ,than try and show me up. I actually encourage it. Tell your other academy friends as well- what fun is there in hosting auditions if no one auditions?

So get your butts off the chair and stop reading this  blog. I demand at least one MC Hammer dancer in the next auditions and if there are  those of you unwilling to audition but still want to be a part of it, than be background dancers for myself or other competing players. Hey, just because we’re auditioning, doesn’t mean you can’t make our auditions 20% cooler by joining in. Live long and prosper, see ya next time. Happy Holidays.

(Note: Vanilla Ice/Village people dancers would also be pretty cool.)