Tag Archives: Giselle Ortiz

Top Ten Gifts You Should Get for Her and Him

Posted on by

By Giselle Ortiz and Destiny Padilla

Are you wondering what types of gifts you should get your loved one? We’ve got you covered!

1. Does your partner love flowers but hate that they get old? 

You should buy some Lego Flowers. Not only does it last forever, you two can build together!

2. Does your partner love words of affirmation? 

Write your partner a love letter. Who doesn’t like heart warming love letters of how much you love and adore them.

3. Does your partner love stuffed animals, but you don’t know which one to get them? 

Go to Build-A-Bear. You can both pick what type of animal, outfit, and name! You get to have a lot of options in Build-A-Bear.

4. Does your partner love art or love to draw? 

Buy them a coloring set with paints, colored pencils, and canvases.

5. Make them a gift basket.

You can fill it with all their favorite things. Such as candies, drinks, chips, candles, or skin care products.

6. Do you and your partner love jewelry?

If so, a perfect gift for them would be a necklace or bracelet with your name. Once another person spots your name on them, they will know their heart belongs to you!

7. Is your significant other Disney obsessed?

There isn’t any other flower that compares to an everlasting one. Purchase a Beauty and the Beast enchanted rose (with the case).

8. Do you and your partner love wearing hoodies?

The ideal gift will be customized hoodies with either a graphic design you both love or each other’s initials with a heart on the sleeve.

9. Do you want the world to know your significant other has a boyfriend or girlfriend?

Yup, you do! Purchase a “I LOVE MY BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND” shirt! Even better if there’s a picture of you on it.

10. Are you hesitant about going overboard with your gift, wanting something simple yet sweet?

A great purchase would be a scent that reminds you of the moments you’ve spent with them. Whether it’s a candle, cologne, or a scented gift, the thought of you thinking about sweet things that remind you of them, will make them feel overjoyed.

Rose Parade Auditions

Posted on by

JGHS working to join the 605 All-Star Band

By Giselle Ortiz and Leslie Cardenas

The John Glenn High School marching band and color guard decided to take a break from their usual competitive season this year and focused on their marching skills as they auditioned for the 2025 Tournament of Roses Parade.

For the past 3 months, the band and color guard have been rehearsing to participate in the 605 All-Star Band. The 605 Band includes John Glenn, Norwalk, La Mirada, Bellflower, Cerritos, Artesia, Gahr, and Mayfair. These eight schools have banded together to record an audition tape to be admitted into the parade. The recording of the audition took place on December 4, 2022 at Bellflower High School.

While the band had much time on their hands to practice their marching, the color guard was awaiting a video of their routine to “Life is a Highway,” one of the songs the band auditioned with. Weeks passed by but the color guard still had nothing. It wasn’t until Thanksgiving where the color guard finally received their video. So when we got back from break, the color guard got to work learning their routine as a team. They had 4 days to learn the complete routine. 

Recording day was split into two parts. The first part was marching in a parade block and the second part was the field show.

Mr. Hinojoz (JGHS band director) conducting the 605 All-Star Band.

The morning of recording day, the band, color guard, and battery got divided into different sections. Band was on the football field, the color guard was on the practice field, and the battery was in the parking lot. The band began by warming up on the track. We did warm-ups for about 20 minutes before we began to run our first song, “Life is a Highway.” The sound of the band was amazing, we sounded full and strong. Eventually, the video photographers recorded our audio and after recording, we got a 10-minute break.

After our 10-minute break, we got back to the track to record us marching. This time, the color guard and battery joined us. We all got put into our ranks, which took a while since all the band directors were moving students around to make the block work better. Once we were set we began to march in a block while pretending to play. Towards the end of part one, we were given a break. When we came back, the pit for the field portion had been set up. We played with the field battery and pit a couple times and then we broke off for lunch.

During lunch, it began to sprinkle. The band directors decided to put us into the MPR. This delayed the recording of the field portion by about an hour.

The 605 band forming a “605” freeway sign.

Once it began to calm down we all headed back to the stadium. We finally began to work on the field portion. The field portion was the part most people did not enjoy. The JGHS marching band is specifically a parade band, not field. So we did not know anything about the drill nor were we used to the amount of time we would have to reset. We stood in one spot for a very long time. Though they let us have our jackets on while setting up, the minute we had to record they had us take our jackets off. It was very cold and many people were concerned about getting sick. The whole time we were told to airplay. It wasn’t until the very last run through where we were allowed to play.

Our overall experience during recording day wasn’t the best. But sure, the beginning was fun since it was something we are used to. 

Here are some more pics from that day:

Start of the day; members of the band line up by section.
The parade block; sign held up by color guard.
Drum majors from different schools representing the 605 Band. (JGHS drum major in the far left back: Lisette Rivas)
Field show for “Johnny B. Goode.”
JGHS trumpets during the field show. 
(Starting 3rd trumpet from the left: Andres Esparza, Franklin Zelada, Jacob Salcido)
Final drill of the day, the guitar.

Giselle Ortiz

Posted on by

Giselle Ortiz is a senior here at John Glenn High School. She has been in color guard for three years and has performed with the John Glenn High School Marching Band in competitions and parades. Her favorite things are music, going out at night, her four dogs, the colors green and brown, and jewelry. In her free time she likes taking naps and doing nothing. Her favorite news sites are the Los Angeles Times, Whittier Daily News, and Telemundo.