Featured Stories
When a story is especially well-written, important, or impactful, it gets added to featured stories. This category may also feature stories that are submitted for awards.
Union St. Journal
When a story is especially well-written, important, or impactful, it gets added to featured stories. This category may also feature stories that are submitted for awards.
![Freshman Alexa Casillas Martin and sophomore Jocelyn Hernandez cut onions and peppers in the culinary room while in Spanish teacher Wilmer Barrera’s Native Speaker Spanish class. Barrera wants his students to learn about Spanish culture through daily life experiences such as cooking so he incorporates cooking into his classroom teaching. “I graduate[d] from college and I love being in front of the classroom,” Barrera said.](https://unionstreetjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Mr.-Barrera-cooking-story.jpg)
![Students perceive each other in highly critical ways.
This is only magnified when the person being observed is transgender. Sophomore Aram Bazarian sat with a trans pride flag for our cover in an all too familiar position. As a trans person at Creek, Bazarian often feels isolated from students around him, not only because of his identity, but also because of the possible hate he could experience for being himself. “Some [students] have never met a trans person before,” senior Karter LaBarre said. “So I sometimes have some educating to do.” Educating their peers is the tip of the iceberg for these trans students. Name-changes, basic respect, and deadnaming are all part of the trans experience.](https://unionstreetjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/USJOpt5Edit-696x900.jpg)
