Retiring staff members bid CVHS farewell
Karen Sakamoto
Kathy Clarke
Lynne Tierney
Ross Williams
Karen Sakamoto has been at CVHS since the 1980s. Prior to working with students in the library she taught special education at CVHS. “The best experiences I’ve had have come from working with the students,” said Sakamoto. Throughout her years at CVHS she’s had plenty of good memories to look back on. She’s learned a lot from working with CVHS staff members but her best experiences have stemmed from working with the students and helping them find what they need. “What I will miss the most about CVHS is the students,” said Sakamoto.
Kathy Clarke has been a librarian for CVHS for the past four years, following her 30-year teaching career. Clarke is well known for going above and beyond to support students. Although hectic at times, she’s grateful to have been able to use her career to impact the lives of students. “Being able to work with the students, help them, and to hopefully give them a safe place that they feel like they can come anytime has been the best part,” said Clarke. Working at CVHS has been a highlight of her career. “I feel like I’m going out on a very high and positive note because I’m inspired by my students and the colleagues here,” said Clarke.
As the school year ends, Lynne Tierney will say goodbye to her fulfilling career as a science teacher and begin her new adventure. Tierney has stayed committed to her students for 36 years at CVHS, and made sure each student had the best education possible. Asked about her favorite career memories, Tierney listed several, including “seeing the school change from having homecoming in the gym to all the changes as we grew, teaching in every hallway except the portables, hearing from students after they graduate (seeing them get married, having kids, come back and teach at CVHS, etc.) sometimes 20 years later.”
Ross Williams has taught economics and history, and created many memories and friendships during his more than 30 years at CVHS. He says his most memorable times teaching at CVHS were all the senior pranks he has witnessed over the years. Appropriate or not, he says he will keep and treasure those memories forever. “I want to tell students of CVHS to chase their dreams and that we all have down times, but it is up us to get back up and stay strong,” said Williams.
Spring Concert shows choir talent By Desiree Broome Video Editor
As senior Andre Juntilla charismatically conducted the Vocal Ensemble, the audience knew that the night was going to be an enjoyable one. CVHS choirs held an end-ofyear Spring Concert on Friday, May 12 in the CFA. The Spring Concert always features all of the ensembles and takes place at the end of the year to show off the great choir and bid farewell to the seniors. The concert began with some selections performed by Vocal Ensemble, the beginning choir. Vocal Ensemble performed a mix of upbeat and slow songs, conducted by choir teacher Laryssa Sadoway. However, two of the selections were conducted by seniors Grace Hancock and Andre Juntilla, whom are part of Madrigals, the most advanced choir. Sadoway began the show by introducing the choir and speaking a little about their previous shows including the extremely popular Pops which happened just a few weeks before. After the Vocal Ensemble performance, the intermediate girls of Les Chants performed. They were also conducted by Sadoway and performed a mixture of songs as well.
After Les Chants came the A Capella choir, which is the larger, more advanced choir made up of sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The choir split into two parts. One made up of sopranos and altos (females), and the other tenors and basses (males), each performing a few selections. The show closed with some selections from the highest choir, Madrigals. Madrigals is made up of a few selected students who go through a rigorous audition process. The ensemble performed their last songs as a part of the CVHS choir and the audience bid them farewell with huge applause. Senior Candace Ko, a member of Madrigals, recounted her memories and how she feels about ending her time in the choir.“Choir is amazing. It's a community that no other program on campus can replicate. I'm so privileged to have been a part of Madrigals this year. No matter what mood I walked into rehearsal with, I always came out happy. For someone who's been in choir for all four years of high school, it's hard to think about how I won't have this in college. I encourage everyone to audition for any choir. What you'll experience throughout the year is something you won't get from any other class.”
Acapella and Madrigals choirs win big at Golden State By Ria Panjwani Staff Writer
Acapella and Madrigals choirs competed in their annual Golden State competition on Tuesday May 16. Madrigals placed second and Acapella placed fourth, the best either choir has ever placed in their competition history. Acapella consists of 107 choral students, and Madrigals is an even more select group of 35 singers who also sing in Acapella. The Golden State Choral Competition took place at Pacific Union College in Northern Napa Valley; CVHS choral students arrived at school at 7:15 a.m. to get to the Napa college by 11 a.m. Students had the chance to listen to nine other large and small choirs perform throughout the day, from schools all around the bay from Napa Valley to Mt. Eden High School. “It is the most prestigious of its kind in the state, so there is nothing with higher standard for choral music that we could enter. To be even invited is an honor. To be in the top five in the state is a huge, huge deal,” said choir teacher Laryssa Sadoway. Each choir sang three songs, two pieces chosen by the choirs, and one that every choir sang. Acapella performed the required piece “De Mit Tranen Zaen,” along with pieces “Water Night” by Eric Whitacre and “Balleilakka”
by Ethan Sperry. Madrigals performed required piece “Blue Bird,” and pieces “Se Per Havervi, Oime” by Morten Lauridsen and “Only In Sleep” by Eriks Esenvalds. “It was a day full of beautiful music and beautiful people. I’ve never felt more blessed to be part of this choir, and I’m so incredibly proud of the work we’ve done this year,” said sophomore Britney Eng. In a competition day hiccup, CVHS choirs forgot their drums for the piece “Balleilakka.” “Thankfully, we were in a music school and someone was able to get us drums. But it was stressful thinking that we had done all this work to be docked points because of the drums,” said Eng. Acapella and Madrigals choirs work tirelessly throughout the year to learn these pieces and perform them to perfection. While Madrigals is its own class period, Acapella meets together as a full choir only once a month. “I’m really, really proud. There are a few times that I’ve felt truly a ton of pride in my life, in myself, and the choir that I work with. This was definitely one of them,” said senior Grace Hancock. “What we do is very special. It’s unlike anything else you’re going to do in high school. There’s nothing quite like that feeling you get when you synthesize a performance,” said Sadoway.
“Dude, be nice!” week winds to a close By Sarah Nosseir
Sports Editor Kindness is an underrated trait, something people work on in theory, but don’t often practice. Dude Be Nice! Week starting May 1 was the CVHS way of giving students an incentive to express extra kindness in the hopes that it’ll stick with them for the rest of their lives. Dude Be Nice! Week is pretty self explanatory: it’s a week when the students of CVHS are encouraged to be extra nice, to go out of their way to make someone smile, and to notice the people on campus who spread positivity. Leadership students put their heads together and came up with six nominees from each grade, who would be voted on by the student body on the Friday of Dude Be Nice! Week This year, all the nominees were strong, or should we say, nice, but the winners from each grade consisted of Alex Salinas (freshman), Hunter Bowersmith (sophomore), Chris Kusumonegoro (Junior), and Ian Doporto (senior). These winners received a t-shirt for their efforts and a pat on the back, not to mention a lifetime of bragging rights. As junior Matt Betti said, “Something very simple can make a big impact on someone’s day, so it’s nice to recognize the people that are making the effort to be kind.” T h ro u g h o u t t h e w e e k , leadership also created hashtags, one for each day, that students could share their stories and pictures to such as: #muchlovemonday, # t h o u g h t f u l t u e s d a y, # w a r m h u g w e d n e s d a y, #thankfulthursday, and #friendshipfriday. “Using social media to promote Dude be nice! week has been successful, and has encouraged more people to get involved,” said Betti. Promoting positivity is never a negative thing, and everyone on campus was likely affected in some way or another by someone’s kindness, and that is what makes it all worth it.