New Pirate Stadium Opens with Grand Fanfare
With a fireworks show as impressive as Disneyland’s, Paramount High School celebrated the grand opening of the new Pirate stadium.
Fireworks burst into the air, the crowd cheered, and with a hearty voice it was announced, “Pirates, take your field!” As cheers roared from the crowd, the varsity football team proudly ran onto their new domain, for they are the first athletic team to play on the new turf.
There was no denying the enthusiasm that filled the stadium Friday night, October 17. The 4,000-seat home side was packed with students, alumni, parents, faculty and staff, and VIP’s personally invited by Superintendent Dr. David Verdugo.
The fanfare for the grand opening began before the game with a VIP reception hosted by Dr. Verdugo. Over 200 guests were invited to a pre-game reception where Dr. Verdugo thanked the many people involved in the making of this grand stadium.
Another highlight of the evening was the brilliant fireworks show at halftime. The spectacular display left the crowd in awe. PUSD Board President Vivian Hansen, commented, “It was an incredible event for everyone!
Our students have deserved an upgraded stadium for many years and the Board of Education is grateful for the support of the community to make this a reality. It was very heartwarming to see 4,000 seats filled with proud alumni, staff, parents, students and community members who came to share the memorable occasion. I can’t remember when I and my colleagues on the Board of Education have shared an event that was more enjoyable. This one will be hard to beat.”
PHS Senior Campus Principal, Dr. Buckner, summed up the evening best, “The great history of the school was on display at the special guest reception before the game and at the game itself. In addition, the fireworks before the game and at halftime were a fitting symbol of the excitement of the capacity crowd which filled the air.”
The new Pirate stadium has the capacity to seat 6,000—4,000 on the home side and 2,000 on the visitor side. There is a 1,000 square foot Press Box, and an elevator at the west end. The stadium boasts a state of the art artificial turf on the field, a state of the art all-weather track, and a state of the art artificial soccer field.
Completion of the stadium complex is just the beginning of more remodeling to come due to the passing of Measure AA. According to Superintendent Dr. Verdugo, “Paramount’s goal for the stadium and the campus has always been about trans-
forming lives by creating a place the community, our teachers and our students can take pride in. The stadium grand opening ceremony was a major event and will be remembered by many as an example of what we can accomplish together as
a community with a vision towards the future. I am extremely proud of our Board of Education whose courageous decision to go forward with a bond referendum will make the difference for generations of students in Paramount.”
PHS Senior Campus College Club Members Visited Northern CA Colleges
It was the northern California college tour for three members of the PHS Senior Campus College Club.
Seniors Ana Cardona and Adriana Ascencio along with junior Olumide Martins visited six universities from Friday evening October 3 through Sunday evening October 5. Their tour began in San Jose where they visited Cal State San Jose. On Saturday, they visited the University of Santa Cruz who was holding an Open House for all prospective high school students. From there they went to Stanford where
they were greeted by an admission representative who gave the group an official tour of the campus. Early Sunday morning the group started off at the University of California, Berkeley where they were met by a Paramount High School alumnus who gave them a personal tour of the campus. Mid afternoon their tour took them to the University of California, Davis who was celebrating their 100th year with a fair.
Other universities were also at the UCD fair giving out information and answering questions. The last stop for the group was at California State University, Sacramento.
The northern college tour was chaperoned by College Club advisor, counselor Mrs. Hill. She stated that these students will share their findings from their northern California college tour through a slide presentation that will be given to the entire College Club at their next meeting.
According to Mrs. Hill, the three students who attended this tour were chosen last spring
of ’08. To apply for this trip, students had to have a 4.0 GPA and submit an essay.
This was only the first of several college trips that the College Club will be taking. The local college trips are open first to College Club members and then to the entire student body until bus seats are filled. Future tours planned include the University of California, Santa Barbara; California State University, Long Beach; and the University of Southern California.
Zamboni and Tanner Students Are Onward to Success!
On September 13, 2008 the students of Frank J. Zamboni and Howard Tanner School, united their efforts to ensure that high academic achievement becomes the focus for all students. As approximately forty students boarded the bus for the annual Young Black Scholars college kick-off there was excitement in the air. The students were eager to explore the various majors and opportunities they knew they would encounter at the college fair and new members class.
As the students ventured through the college fair, they were thrilled to meet the admission directors and representatives from schools such as UCLA, USC, Arizona State University, CSU Long Beach, CSU Fullerton, CSU Northridge, Howard University, United States Naval Academy, UC Davis and many more.. They conducted themselves like distinguished scholars as they asked questions such as “What classes should I take to get into your school?” and “Are extracurricular activities important when completing the college application process?”
The day reached a pinnacle when Michael Eaves, Sportscaster of Fox Sports News, gave the keynote address with the message that “Failure is Not an Option.” During the question and answer session a Zamboni student stood and asked Mr. Eaves the poignant question “What advice can you give a middle school student who is just starting to get prepared for college?” Mr. Eaves was so impressed by the fact that middle school students were already on the college preparatory track, he walked to the back of the auditorium and spoke to the students of Zamboni and Tanner personally while reiterating that mastering the content of math and language arts is the key. He also emphasized that they should not wait for high school to focus on good grades or improve their study habits. He closed with the powerful message that they must create a seven year plan beginning in the sixth grade instead of waiting for the traditional four year plan.
The students concluded this wonderful event by standing to recite the YBS pledge. It was a life changing moment to witness our students recite the words:
What I say I will be. I will be.
What I say I will do. I will do.
At the end of the day the message was very clear for our scholars, Paramount Unified School District is a place where dreams start and success follows.
Valanitta Richard - Principal
STAR COMPUTER LABS!
Paramount’s successful STAR after-school program provides nearly 2000 students with academic and physical education programs in all 16 K-8 schools in the Paramount Unified School District. For over two years, the STAR (Success Through Academics and Recreation) program has done a fabulous job of supporting schools in many aspects. For example, the Assistant Recreation Director for the City of Paramount, David Johnson, saw the need for greater access to computers for students and envisioned a plan to collaborate with schools to provide new computer labs using STAR After School Education and Safety Grant funds. A meeting was held with City personnel and the Technology Director, Troy Marshall, to setup three new labs at Alondra, Hollydale and Los Cerritos schools. State of the art desktop computers were ordered and installed in newly furnished rooms with each having 30 stations along with brand new laser jet printers.
Students can now use word processing software to prepare reports, browse the Internet and use various educational software applications. A wonderful benefit of these resources is that the schools are using them during the day in addition to the after school usage by STAR program participants. At Alondra School, the Principal, Mrs. Butler, shares, “This computer lab will provide students exposure and ability to explore and research technology. We are fortunate to have a city that cares so much to provide students with this opportunity”.
The vision is to have students participate and use cutting edge technology has been realized as a result of this joint effort between the City of Paramount and the Paramount Unified School District. The new labs are fondly referred to as “STAR LABS” because they are a gift of the STAR after school program but also provide eager-to-learn children with a means of reaching for the stars like never before!
4th-8th Grade Students Receive Special Music Education
More Vocal Music Education is coming to Paramount Unified School District in the form of two new singing teachers. With the hard work of the VAPA committee and the vision through the ARTS for ALL District Strategic Plan, Lorie Higgins and Sandra Wilson-Espinoza have been selected to implement singing! All 4th -8th grade students district-wide will be introduced to music on a regular basis. Everyone is well aware of the enormous amount of student talent here in PUSD. Both Lorie Higgins and Sandra Wilson-Espinoza are thrilled to begin working with our students and are currently making plans to begin this new endeavor. This project is funded through the State Arts and Music Block Grant.
Lorie Higgins will focus on our 4th and 5th grade students here in Paramount. She has worked diligently to train and prepare herself for this age group. Lorrie actually went back to college to earn her degree and teaching credential when her youngest son was entering middle school. This was only after many years of raising her children, participating actively as a member of PTA, Little League, and Girl Scouts. Lorie earned her Associ -
ate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees from Rio Hondo College and went on to California State University in Fullerton where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education.
Sandra Wilson-Espinoza will focus on our 6th - 8th grade students district-wide. She too, comes well prepared and is ready for the challenge of working with 4353 students! Sandra attended Whittier College where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music. She continued her studies in dance at San Jose State while teaching at Whittier High School and over time earned her Masters degree in Education from the University of La Verne. Sandra spent many years working for the El Rancho Unified School District where she inherited a small choral program and revitalized the department to birth five competitive performance groups which included traditional choirs, show choirs, and dance groups.
Both Lorie Higgins and Sandra Wilson-Espinoza are enthusiastic and passionate about the Arts and the impact it can and will have on our children here in the Paramount Unified School District.
Three Pirates Travel Abroad to See the Sites of England, Wales, and France
It’s not everyday that you get to do a sleepover on the lawn of an English castle that was built by William the Conqueror in 1068. Nor is it everyday that you learn how to sail or kayak in Oxford, England. Sounds like a dream?
This dream was a reality for three Paramount High School Senior Campus Pirates who traveled during the summer to England, Wales, and France through the student ambassador program People to People.
Pirates Anna Vasquez, Angelica Ortiz, and Juan Carlos Espinosa were nominated by teachers to participate in People to People, whose mission is to take young Americans across international borders so that they may gain a greater sense of what it means to be a good neighbor and global citizen.
During their 17-day trip, these Pirates visited famous sites including Warwick Castle, the Tower of London, Oxford University, Versailles, Normandy, and the Eiffel Tower. They even spent three days living with a family so that they could experience life in
the English countryside. According to Angelica, throughout the trip students were treated well, “We all felt special like VIP’s.”
This trip was filled with memorable experiences for each student: Angelica’s favorite memory is standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower where she could see all of Paris; Juan Carlos’, stepping out on a Sunday afternoon to walk the beautiful English countryside; and Anna, visiting the beach in Normandy where D-Day took place.
The students were part of a small group representing southern California. There has been only one other student (2005) to participate in People to People. Before their trip, these students attended four orientation meetings to get to know their leaders as well as the other eighteen students in their cluster. They also commented that the leaders (teacher volunteers) were kind and the trip well-organized. Each student agreed that they would recommend other Pirates to become a student ambassador with People to People.
Kicking Off the New School Year!
Collins School kicked off the 2008-09 school year with a fun fashion show and a STAR celebration. The fashion show came out of a need to have all students adhere to the school and District directive of 100% uniform compliance. The teachers and staff at Collins want to see students succeed. As we all know an integral part of success is “dressing the part”. It can be easy to lose perspective on the purpose of uniform compliance directives. Uniforms help create a safe, focused environment for learning. Students who are well prepared experience higher levels of motivation and success. On Friday, August 29th, 2008 during our annual discipline assemblies, a few of our well-prepared, motivated, and successful students walked the cat walk! They showed off their success as they sauntered down the runway in neatly worn uniforms. White button-up collared shirts, red spirit day polo shirts, neat blue jeans and expressive shoes
Superintendent’s Message:
Paramount Grades 4-8 Choir Music Program
As we enter into the month of November and the beginning of the holiday season I am very happy and proud to announce that beginning this month, Paramount Unified School District will start a comprehensive and sequential Choir Music Program at grades 4-8th.
This new program will provide for uninterrupted instructional time for choir music at each school site for all students. Each school will now have choir music instruction once a month throughout the school year. All 4th and 5th grade students will receive a music class once a week. All 6-8th grade students will receive a music class once every seven days.
A choral music schedule will be provided to al our parents for your information. Needless to say, our Board of Education and I are very excited about bringing Arts Education to our schools. We look forward to this program and we see it
as another way to help our students succeed and achieve.
Thank you to our Board of Education, our music teachers, Lorrie Higgins and Sandra Wilson-Espinoza, Program Specialist Julianne Kosareff and Assistant Superintendent Stella Toibin for their wonderful support and guidance.
On behalf of our Board of Education I wanted to also extend our sincere best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday to all our students, staff, teachers and families of Paramount Unified School District.
Off to the Races
sent a powerful message to all Collins students “I can express myself, adhere to school rules, feel good about myself and be successful!”
Shortly after the uniform fashion show Collins held the 2nd annual STAR celebration! Students who scored proficient or advanced on one or more subtests of the STAR and their parents were invited to attend a scrumptious Pancake Breakfast with all the fixings. The hard-working students received a certificate of accomplishment and their pictures taken with their parent. The entire school and school community can view the STAR breakfast pictures outside of the school cafeteria on the bright pink bulletin boards. Parents are beaming with pride in every picture! The STAR breakfast celebration was a morning filled with food, fun, pride and accomplishment. We are very proud of our outstanding students!
Written by Nancy Manning
This year Wirtz School is off to the “races” as we begin the school year in the right direction. Teamwork and collaboration have already commenced and is evident through the use of 10-step lesson planning, that all teachers are performing, thanks in part to a summer training provided by the District. The Blue-binder program helped 6-8 students arrive prepared on the first day of school and ready to work, as they received all the materials necessary to be successful this year. This also helped to take any pressure and undue stress off of parents.
Back-to-School Night went off with out a hitch and parent turn-out seemed to be abundant as they filed, family by family, into the cafeteria filling the room with murmurs of curiosity as they would finally meet their children’s new teachers. In the K-5 world teachers were expected to inform parents for a complete session. Ms. Hartel, a K-5 teacher stated, “This was my best turn-out ever. Parents were very friendly and wanted to help their child do well in school. It is often hard to get around to all parents, but this was not a problem, since they kept so busy looking through their students’ work.” From our SDC team, Mrs. Hutton stated that she had 100% attendance and that parents were excited to finally meet their child’s teachers.
6-8 families were to follow a schedule that directed them from classroom to classroom in order to meet the various teachers their children would have this 2008-09 school year. When asked, Ms. Valentin said, “I had a great turn out. My sixth grade class had the largest turnout. My message was very direct and clear as far as expectations in my classroom, so I believe the parents were fine with the information given.”
September also saw the commencement of a monthly series of Principal’s Club Awards and Breakfasts. Every month teachers select either a student with outstanding academic performance or a student who has greatly improved for the month. These students and their parents are then invited to have breakfast with all the teachers and administrators on a Friday morning prior to school starting. This month’s turnout was also impressive as parents got to meet with teachers and discuss their child’s performance over eggs and salsa, coffee, and danishes. Students are then called to the stage to receive a certificate and school supplies and have their picture taken. It is a great thing to see students excited about performing to the best of their ability and being recognized for their accomplishments. This has been a great start to what is sure to be a great year.
Wow! I Am In High School Now
Wow! You wake up early in the morning so excited to begin your new journey through high school. You get dressed up in your best outfit to make the best first impression you possibly can on old friends, new friends, and most of all, the teachers. High school is all about meeting new people. It is a test on how well you work with and get along with others. If you are closedminded about meeting new people or having original experiences you will not survive in this new world called: High School.
There are so many things going on all around me: students are playing football, baseball, and even water polo (I didn’t even know we had a water polo team). Some kids are playing instruments, while others have begun training for a Marathon. Personally, I got involved right away. I joined Leadership over the summer and I am also on the Freshmen Football team. That means I am here at 7:00 am and sometimes don’t leave until after 5:00. (And yes there are still teachers here that late, what could they possibly be doing?)
This year’s ninth graders are luckier than ever. We are able to take courses that have never been offered before at West Campus: Theater and Dance, as well as more Honors Language Arts and Biology classes. We even have an Introduction to Medical Technology and Introduction to Media Services classes. I had no idea High School would offer such
a variety of things to do.
Clubs are getting started as well and I am looking forward to getting involved in as many as I can. I am already in Leadership and we are striving to make our school a safe and fun learning environment. I am here every morning working hard to improve the student experience here at West Campus. I look forward to joining up with more clubs as the year progresses.
Hopefully you have enjoyed this inside scoop on the life of a typical ninth grader. My advice to all the rest of the Freshman Class of 2012: Make the most of your high school years. Once they are gone, they are gone forever. Put forth your best effort possible because if I have learned one thing already it is that you are not going to get far in life without a good education.
Building Bridges Through Athletics - A Portrait of Collaboration
Alondra and Mokler Schools futures are forever intertwined. In less than one year, District K-8 Reconfiguration will take place linking these two terrific schools as partners in education.
In efforts to create collaboration between the schools Mr. Hunt of Alondra and Mr. Guitron of Mokler brought the schools together through an athletic contest. It was the football season opener for both schools. As the two teams began the competition it was apparent that this game had a special feel to it. The game itself was hard fought and highly contested throughout with both teams giving maximum efforts. As the battle raged on, the level of respect and admiration intensified and became profound on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Both of these schools displayed an extreme amount of sportsmanship, honor, and courage.
It became crystal clear to all those in attendance that the melding of these two schools leaves the Paramount Unified School District and its students winners!
Community Involvement
Collaboration between parents, teachers, and staff at Howard Tanner School has been remarkable. The Terrific Tanner Team worked in unity to produce two successful school events that have unified the community while launching the school year to a great start. Back-To-School Night and the Latino Heritage Festival are annual events at the school where parents, family members, and friends are able to acquaint themselves with faculty and staff as well as celebrate student achievement and success.
This year, Back-To-School Night had an overwhelming turnout of parents. Before the event began, Howard Tanner School’s principal Mrs. Sanco and the guest of honor of the night George Tanner, son of Howard Tanner, inspired the crowd with their motivating words. After each teacher had been introduced, teachers welcomed parents and family members into their classrooms; parents were able to meet and greet their children’s new teacher for the 2008-2009 school year. Teachers took full advantage of the opportunity to provide parents important information about their grade level curriculum, class structure, and academic expectations. To enhance student learning and academic achievement, teachers also provided valuable tools for parents to utilize at home with their children as they learned about different techniques needed for the student’s academic success.
The Latino Heritage Festival had a wonderful turn out. This annual event is meant to bring the community together and celebrate the cultural diversity that the Hispanic students bring to the campus. To start the night, Tanner’s own Victor Mendoza showed up with his band Grupo Parientes and made the event festive with their lively Latin melodies. With the band playing, students, parents, and teachers enjoyed the taqueria vender’s authentic street-style tacos. They were a huge attraction and sold out by the end of the two hour event. For those not wanting to wait in the long lines for a tasty taco, the PTA also had pizza, nachos, ice-cream, and other snacks on hand. In the Multi-Purpose building, the school displayed a variety of student work the centered around the accomplishments of the Hispanic community. The school’s principal, Patricia Brent-Sanco, could be found all over campus meeting and greeting parents, former students, and current students. School Board member Linda Garcia also attended the festival along with her mother and grand children. MESA, the school’s math/science club, even contributed to the festivities with a 50/50 raffle each hour, glow-in-the-dark bracelets and balloons. Fun was had by all as the children started a large volleyball game and adults danced to the music.
Written by Deric Clarke and Octavio Monteon
Roosevelt PTA Donates Soccer Goals
The Roosevelt Parent Teacher Association is actively working with the school. Recently, Maggie Chavez, president, received a written letter from Mrs. Vasquez, fifth grade teacher, requesting soccer goals. The PTA had a meeting scheduled and approved the soccer goals. They had enough money to purchase two sets of goals for both the fourth and fifth grade levels. The students in both grade levels are having fun and feel special playing with their new soccer goals.
The Roosevelt PTA is always looking for ways to help support the students at Roosevelt, whether it is by donating items for the class, prizes for the Accelerated Readers program, awards certificates, or busses for class fieldtrips.
This is all possible because of the time and dedication that the members put in. Throughout the year, they hold fundraisers, participate in school activities such as the Spring Carnival, Read Nights, and parent workshops.
Not only is the PTA involved at the school site, they also participate with city activities such as the Paramount Fair. The PTA hung out with Ms. Dutton and helped pass out information at the fair. They have had a difficult time this school year with the membership drive. They are requesting all families join the Roosevelt PTA and become more actively involved. The membership runs through the month of November, and hopefully we will get new members to join.
Tino Rodriguez