What’s Good in Education - Briefs May 2, 2007

A Publication of the William S. Hart Union High School District Vol. VII, No. 16

Parent Volunteers Honored at Reception Nearly 90 parent volunteers, nominated by school sites across the Hart District for oustanding service to their children’s schools, were honored at the district’s annual Parent Volunteer Recognition program recently at the Santa Clarita Activities Center. Highlight of the evening was presentation of Outstanding Parent Volunteer awards to 10 of the nominees for exemplary levels of service, and three Parent Volunteer of the Year awards— the highest honor the District Advisory Committee confers in the annual program. Volunteer of the Year recipients are Richard Hilstein from Saugus High School and Jennifer Morrison and Sabrina Utter from Rio Norte Junior High. Outstanding Parent Volunteers include Josy Block, Dave and Pam Haendle, Elizabeth Lopez, Betty Salek, Doreen Love, Charlotte Murr, Russ Phillips, Laurie Wagner and Cheryl Wasserman. The Hartbreakers show choir from Hart High School performed at the reception, which allowed honorees to bring family members to share their evening in the spotlight.

Bowman Honored for Senior Seminar Bowman High School received a 2007 State Exemplary Program Award from the California Continuation Education Association at the group’s recent state conference in Sacramento. Bowman counselors Suzy Mansfield and Lori Wilson accepted the award for Senior Seminar, a program instrumental in helping 91 percent of last year's Bowman graduates enroll in college.

Dinner Recognizes Business Stars Each year local businesses contribute thousands of dollars and hours of time supporting Hart District schools with monetary and in-kind donations, mentor relationships, and on-the-job training and internships. This year the schools selected 80 of their top business partners to be honored at the district’s annual Business Partner Recognition dinner hosted by the district Student Communications Council. Honorees were invited to dinner and a program featuring the Saugus High School Concert Choir. Highlight of the evening was presentation of awards to six Outstanding Business partners and three Super Stars. Top awards went to Dennis Hogle from Quest Diagnostics, John Van Deventer from Big John’s, and Richard Green from Green Landscape Nursery. Outstanding Business Partner awards went to Carl Lucero, ABM Janitorial Service; Rex Baumgartner, D.D.S.; American Builders Supply; Adriana Farrell, Cruz’s Bridal; Mike Langford from B.J.’s Restaurant; and Jason Pair, D.D.S. Cary Quashen of ACTION received his third Lifetime Achievement Award for ongoing service. Xerox Corporation was host sponsor for the event.

Hart Show Choirs Win in New York The Sound Vibrations and Hartbreakers, two varsity-level show choirs from Hart High School, have returned from a national invitation-only competition in New York with a Grand Champion designation in women’s show choirs for Hartbreakers and a second runner up in the highly competitive division of mixed show choirs for the Sound Vibrations. Hart’s choirs were competing with top groups from across the nation on the basis of music and show, including vocal technique and performance values. Each of the Hart show choirs has close to 50 members who, in addition to singing and dancing talent, must maintain a high grade point average and participate actively in student government and athletics in order to be a choir member.

Hart Staff Loses More Than a Ton The Hart District is more than a ton and a half lighter this month, thanks to a Biggest Loser weight loss contest organized by district nurse Alison Schmidt. Expecting perhaps 40 or 50 employees to sign up in December, Alison was overwhelmed when 260 staff members across the district signed up for the 12-week contest. The winning team from Rio Norte Junior High School earned a cash prize and $2500 for their school. Les Hershberger, a counselor at Arroyo Seco Junior High, lost more than 25 percent of his starting body weight to claim the top individual Big Loser award. Employees created walking groups, joined health clubs, took on structured weight loss programs or just focused on a more healthy lifestyle. Alison is planning another short-term contest in the fall and another 12-week program in early 2008 to keep employees focused on their new healthy lifestyle.

Teachers in Spotlight at Teacher Tribute The Hart District’s 2006-07 Teachers of the Year were in the spotlight once more as they joined outstanding teachers from districts across the for the annual Teacher Tribute sponsored by the Education Foundation of the SCV Chamber of Commerce. More than 550 guests attended the program, hosted for the first time this year at the Performing Arts Center. Hart High School’s Sound Vibrations show choir performed on stage after an hors d’oeuvres reception in the foyer. The event celebrated the valley’s outstanding teachers while earning some $15,000 for teacher grants and scholarships offered by the Education Foundation.

Saugus Sophomore Wins National Essay Contest Joseph Taylor, a sophomore from Saugus High School, has been named one of only 10 California finalists in the high school category of the “Letters About Literature” national essay contest sponsored by the Library of Congress. His winning essay was selected from more than 4600 submitted across the nation. The essay contest asked students to write letters to an author about a book that has influenced them and Joseph wrote a letter to George Orwell about his book, “1984.” Joseph is taking Honors English at Saugus High and was encouraged to enter the essay contest by his teacher, Frank Koroshec.

Cowboys Corner League Championship (Again!) Congratulations to the Canyon High School track team which won yet another Varsity Boys Foothill League Championship during the recently completed track season. Coaches for the winning team include Dave DeLong, Paul Broneer, Kent Richardson, Joe Stassen and Chris Jackson. This makes Dave DeLong’s 50th league championship—48 in the Foothill League and two at John Burroughs. Dave as been coaching track for over 24 years and Paul 18 years. ACSA Award Winners in State Spotlight Bowman High School Principal Robin Geissler and graduate Gloria Christine Shea Hererra received awards at the Association of School Administrators (ACSA) Region XV Spring Leadership Conference recently in Burbank and will be honored at the annual ACSA State Conference in Santa Clara in November. Geissler received the Continuation School and Educational Options Award for Region XV, where it was announced that she is also the state winner for Educational Options Principal of the Year. Gloria was awarded the Every Student Succeeding Award for Region XV and also will be recognized at the state level. This award celebrates students who exceed expectations and who have overcome great obstacles to succeed. Donna Manfredi from Canyon High School also received the Region XV award for Secondary Co-administrator of the Year, and John Krinkel from Rio Norte Junior High received the region’s Valuing Diversity award.

Local Students Win Big Read Essay Contest Congratulations to students from Hart District schools who have been named winners in the Big Read-Santa Clarita Valley essay contest sponsored by the County of Los Angeles Public Library, Friends of the Libraries, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Alyssa Olinger from Placerita Junior High won first place in the junior high division, followed by Melissa Chang (Placerita - second place) and Magan Buthrie-Wedemeyer (Rancho Pico Junior High – third). Top winners in the high school division were Caitlin Coen (Canyon – first place), Kristen Caprino (Saugus – second) and Jennifer Swann ( – third). Honorable mentions went to Roann Bautista, Golden Valley High School; Josh David, La Mesa Junior High; and Holly Nelson, .The contest drew 249 entries, answering the question “If you could save only one book from extinction, which one would you choose, and why?” Cash awards were provided by Friends of the Libraries of the Santa Clarita Valley.

Carnival Celebrates Successful Testing Students and staff at Rio Norte Junior High School celebrated conclusion of the school’s STAR testing week with the schools third annual Carnival Day last week. Teams and clubs from across the campus participated by sponsoring both food and game booths. Teacher Nancy James won a drawing for a video iPod, open to all Rio Norte teachers who followed all testing

instructions correctly and had all students present during testing. Each student who had perfect attendance during testing was entered into a separate drawing as well for an iPod.

Hart Soccer Receives Academic Award The Hart High School girls varsity soccer team was honored recently at Angel Stadium of Anaheim in a pre-game ceremony for capturing first place in the CIF team academic achievement award. The award is presented to the team with the highest grade point average in its sport. Hart Principal Gary Fuller, Athletic Director Linda Peckham and Assistant Principal Mark Crawford were in attendance to watch the ceremony. This is the fourth time in Hart High School history that one of its athletic teams has won first place in the team academic award and the first time for the school's soccer program, boys or girls. Kate Kuykendall, who had the highest GPA on the team, and Coach Louis Romero represented the team in the pre-game ceremony on the field at home plate.

Rio Norte Shares Support for Virginia Tech On Friday, April 20, hundreds of students and staff members at Rio Norte Junior High joined together with schools all across the nation by wearing maroon and orange, the colors of Virginia Tech. The school turned their thoughts and their hearts to all members of the Virginia Tech community affected by the recent shooting on the college campus.

Hart Students Aid Children of Darfur Two juniors at Hart High School are making it their mission to raise funds and awareness to help refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan. Kelli Crescenti and Pilar Kearney formed We Hart Darfur, an on-campus club which visited every English class on the Hart campus to raise awareness of the plight of the people of Darfur. Club member Jenna Benty produced a video which has been posted online to help raise funds and advocate for a solution in Darfur. All of the club’s fundraising supports the Save Darfur Coalition, which sponsored a competition among high schools to raise the level of participation among students across the nation. Although the competition officially ended on April 30, the We ♥ Darfur effort will continue with its efforts at fundraising and advocacy.

Valencia Color Guard Earns Silver The fledgling Valencia High color guard team earned the silver medal in the Regional A Division at the recent Winter Guard Association of Southern California championships held in Lake Forest. Working with 10 new members on the 12-member team, the Viking squad came together under the artistic direction of choreographer Pedro Montenez and assistant Chelsea Hassen, consistently placing in the top three during competitions and invitationals. The color guard hosted Viking Challenge in March, performing in exhibition. Performing to the song “S.O.S. (Rescue Me)” by Rihanna, the theme revolved around “Women at Work.” Complete with white coveralls, bright yellow hardhats, and a floor mat painted with an oversized orange construction sign, the routine scored high marks in originality.

Valencia High science teacher Sue Peterson is the color guard team advisor.

Placerita Hosts Community Service Day Placerita Junior High School hosted its third Community Service Day on Wednesday, May 2, matching students who are interested in fulfilling community service hours with service organizations seeking volunteer participation. More than 20 local service organizations signed up to meet more than 1000 students during the course of the day. Included in this number are more than 300 students who are required to do community service work to qualify for the National Junior Honor Society. The program is designed to build connections between the school and the service community so students can not only do their required community service hours, but also can begin long-term volunteer commitments to the community in which they live, according to Principal Mike Kuhlman.

Hart to Celebrate Asian History Month Hart High School is celebrating Asian History Month in May with an assembly featuring the Balinese Gamelan Ensemble from California Institute of the Arts. The ensemble is led by two globally recognized masters of Balinese music and dance. They will perform traditional and contemporary compositions on gongs, mallet instruments and drums. The musicians will be accompanied by dancers in full Balinese dress. Two performances are scheduled May 3 in the Hart Auditorium. The assembly is sponsored by Change of Hart, a student-led organization dedicated to recognizing and appreciating the diverse cultures which make up the Santa Clarita Valley area.

Valencia Jazz Vocalists Rank High in Reno Valencia High School’s vocal jazz groups have returned from the Reno Jazz Festival with a score of straight Superiors, the highest ranking awarded at the competitive event. This is a first for Valencia’s two choirs, under the direction of Christine Enns. In overall scoring, and Two N’ Four group received second place is its category and the Seven AM group received third place.

Players of Week Honored at Luncheon Twenty-four outstanding athletes from across the Hart District were honored recently at a Lockheed Player of the Week luncheon hosted by Radio KHTS and Lockheed Federal Credit Union. The Player of the Week program recognizes outstanding Hart District athletes during the football and seasons, featuring the winning player each week on KHTS Radio. The school’s booster club receives $250 for its athletic program each time an athlete from its school is selected. The program has been celebrating the district’s outstanding athletes since 2005.

Free Comics Aid Student Literacy National Free Comic Book Day (May 5) is being celebrated at Placerita Junior High on May 4. Each student will receive a free comic book from Brave New World Comic Book Store -- over 1500. The valley’s elementary schools and public libraries have participated in the event in the past, but this is the first junior high to participate.

Viking Wins League Championship Congratulations to the varsity boys tennis team from Valencia High School, which won the Foothill League championship with a perfect 10-0 record in league play. The win qualifies the team to move on to the CIF championships starting next week. Jack Zapala won the league championship in singles, and Tyler Gottshall received the fourth place medal. Michael Stewart and Darrell Peries won the doubles title, with teammates Steven Novak and Kevin Song the finalists and Chip Myers and Andrew DeGiorgio in third place. Not only did the team win the Foothill League Individual Tournament on the first day, but their seniors also dominate academically. Three will go to UCLA (Steven Novak, Jacob Park and Andrew Digiorgio), three will go to UCSD (Alex Chin, Linus Liu and Chip Myers) and one will go to USC (Kevin Song). True scholar athletes!

New ROTC Unit Earns First Awards The new Air Force Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) unit at Golden Valley High School participated in its first drill competition recently and returned with the corps’ first trophy. The unit started with the Golden Bear National Drill Competition because it was late in the year and gave the unit more time to prepare its cadets, the majority of whom are freshmen. M/Sgt. Mike Watts is aerospace science instructor for the Golden Valley unit.

Geometry Skills Used to Design Parks Geometry takes on a more real-life meaning for students in Paul Kass’ class at Placerita Junior High School with completion of the annual Park Project proposals. Students are asked to design and budget a six-acre park using $2 million or less. The group presentations, complete with plot plans, schematics and even three-dimensional models, are presented to a panel of judges from the community. The reward: a pizza lunch and a better understanding of how students’ geometry skills can be applied to the “real world.”

Video to Debut at Canyon Theatre Guild Two years of “listening” to the growing diversity within the Santa Clarita Valley will culminate in an evening of fun and entertainment for the Achievers Club at Arroyo Seco Junior High School. Conceived by parent Christal Johnson, the club includes a very diverse group of students who have met at lunch weekly for the past year. Using Johnson’s connections to the local entertainment industry, the club has written a song and choreographed a dance video titled “Listen.” It will make its public debut Sunday afternoon, May 20, at the Canyon Theater Guild, in an afternoon which includes live entertainment, dinner and the culminating event—the premiere of the student-produced video. Cost is $15, and reservations can be made by calling (661) 251- 2501 or (661) 312-7174