Mark Highlights April 2019

MARK Highlights

Manteca Unified School Board

the

April 2019

District Celebration Page 18

MUSD School Board President Stephen J. Schluer, Area 6 Vice President Eric Duncan, Area 1 Board Clerk Kathy Howe, Area 2 Karen Pearsall, Area 3 Marie Freitas, Area 4 Cathy Pope-Gotschall, Area 5 Bob Wallace, Area 7

MUSD Superintendents Superintendent Dr. Clark Burke Deputy Superintendent Roger Goatcher A special welcome to provisional Trustee Karen Pearsall, Area 3. She will finish up the current term that will expire in November of 2020.

Vision Every student works to achieve grade level standards, feels safe, and is supported to realize individual success.

Mission Through smart actions and decisions, MUSD will work together using meaningful, measurable and aligned data for all students to achieve mastery of grade level standards in all subjects based on their unique educational pathway in a safe environment inclusive of design, security and climate.

#proudtobeMUSD

Manteca Unified School District 2271 West Louise Ave Manteca, CA 95337 (209)825-3200 Submit stories:

communityoutreach@musd.net

The Mark Highlights is published by the MUSD Superintendent’s Office Community Outreach team. Highlights content is contributed by every school site.

When highlight articles are submitted, they are edited for length and clarity.

Feature writing is produced by the Community Outreach Team and student interns.

Highlights is intended to be a reflection of the

MUSD Vision and Mission, because above all, we value supporting students realizing individual success.

The Mark Highlights Team are: Victoria Brunn Director and Executive Editor vbrunn@musd.net Lindsay Stayner Content Coordination and Editor lstayner@musd.net

Peter Gale Reporting, Design, Photography, and Editing Erica McCullough Design and Photography Johanna Victor Photography and Reporting Community Outreach Interns Feature stories submitted by student interns, or an outside contributor, will include an author’s byline credit.

Contents

APR IL 2019

Making the Mark

Brock Elliott Visits the Fab Lab

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Helping Others in Every way Everyday

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Career Day

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Golden West Enjoys Artist in Residency Program

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Brock Elliott Named AVID Site of Distinction

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Home Depot Flooring Math Task

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Under the Big Top

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Read with Pete

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Great Valley Attends the WE Day Leadership Conference

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Keeping up with BE.Tech

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Weston Ranch’s Coach, Autism Day, and Athlete of the Year

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Night of the Arts

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HOSA State Leadership

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MHS Spring Musical

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3rd Annual All-Star Olympics

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McParland TK Class Makes Slime

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Autism Family Game Night

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Oobelck: Dr Seuss Goo in MELS Garage

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Take Your Child to Work Day

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Employees and Educators of the Year

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Glimpsing her Sierra High Future

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Features District Celebration

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MHS Class Helps Create Library Learning Commons

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SHS Blood Drive Helps Local Hospitals

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WRHS HOSA Club Experiences the SLC’s

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EOD Bomb Squad Visits LHS STEAM Class

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EUHS Leadership Behind the Scenes

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MHS Enters Distracted Driving Campaign

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EUHS AP Bio Students Research Beach Erosion

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Community Corner Shasta GECAC STEM Night

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LHS Every 15 Minute Program

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Brock Elliott Visits the Fab Lab Mrs. Fells 6th grade class had the opportunity to visit the Fab Lab in Stockton because she was the grand prize winner for Hour of Code.

Students engaged in different aspects of mechanical engineering during their trip. They were given toy cars to take apart using tools so they could gain an understanding of how those cars moved. Then

they used Legos and Little Bits to build their own functioning toy cars.

The students remote controlled robots as teams to compete in flipping discs. They were even allowed to build their own creation that either made sound or moved.

As a memento, the students used Tinker Cad Software to create their own gear to be 3D printed with their name on it!

Helping Others in Every way Everyday

HOWDEE program where they facilitate groups of first, third, and fifth grade students.

Mrs. Morris, an RSP teacher at Brock Elliott, oversees the HOWDEE Program.

8th grade students have the opportunity to take part in a two-day

The purpose of the program is to help students learn what it is like to have a disability and how to help others.

All classes that had an opportunity to participate enjoyed it and learned a lot at the two-day event.

Career Day Brock Elliott students were greeted by firefights, police officers, engineers, nurses and a sign language interpreter to name a few, at their annual Career Day. This day provides the

Champion students with a dynamic and tangible experience that inspires a connection between their academic pursuits and professional endeavors in the future.

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Makin g t he M ark

Brock Elliott Named AVID Schoolwide Site of Distinction

Golden West Enjoys Artist in Residency Program

Golden West students in 1st and 2nd grade are receiving four visits from an artist from the Artist in Residency Program where artists share their expertise with students.

Students completed their first lesson where they learned about different types of medium including colored pencils, markers, chalk and paint.

This has been very exciting and fun for these kids!

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Home Depot Flooring Math Task Mr. Hipkin’s 4th grade students at Golden West spent their math time working as flooring contractors.

Using a house floor plan, students found the area of their floor plan and the cost of the flooring of their choice from the Home Depot website, by using addition and multiplication.

Wonderful job 4th graders!

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Under the Big Top Lincoln School held it’s annual school carnival on Thursday, April 11th.

With the theme of “Under the Big Top,” students and parents enjoyed an afternoon of circus activities and decorations.

Teachers and other school staff ran carnival games while many children had their faces painted by our amazing artists.

Music kept the event festive and fun. Two themed photo booths with props were set up for everyone to take memorable photos of the day.

Families enjoyed tamales, nachos, fruit cups, horchata, and churros sold by our ELAC parents, as well as the common circus features of cotton candy and popcorn.

Fun was had by all!

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Read with Pete The LHS Future Teachers club and CTE Careers with Children class participated in Read with Pete the Cat at the Manteca Library.

“Pete” is in the Future Teachers club and a BE.Next charter student.

Preschool children attending Kids Academy, Nile Garden, Golden West, French Camp, New Vision and Manteca Day also attended the event.

Great Valley Peer Resources Class Attends the WE Day Leadership Conference

Great Valley’s Peer Resource attended the WE Day Leadership Conference in Southern California.

The Bruins have been working all year to make an impact on our local community and internationally.

WE Leadership Conferences bring young people together for a day of social justice learning and leadership building.

At the WE Conference, students had the opportunity to hear from several celebrities, including: Neil Patrick Harris, Chance the Rapper, Selena

Gomez, Mahershala Ali, and Natalie Portman.

In support of their trip, students organized a walk-jog-athon and created and sold bracelets.

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Keeping up with BE.Tech Four students from BE.Tech were invited to share their opinions and beliefs about education at the Carnegie Summit on Improvement in Education in San Francisco last week in the session “Improving What Matters to Young People” presented by Big Picture School coaches. Pictured L to R Chef Andrew Griggs, Colton Cowan, Jarrett Gilmer, Laica Marte, Michelle Navarro, Principal Carey Simoni. “In the six years since the conference inception, there have been no students invited to the conference.

Creating spaces for student voice is at the core of what we do here at BE.Tech. It was an honor for our students to be invited to not only attend, but plan and present at this conference. Our students did a tremendous job representing themselves and our school.”—Andrew Griggs

BE.Next students Tristan Hofstad and Ronald White had the opportunity to share their workshop with 2nd graders from Woodward during the 4th Annual STEAM Day. All students painted a mask that they were able to take with them. Schools from throughout the District will visit on different days.

Students from BE.Tech toured the State Capitol with a docent who related various points of California history to the paintings, sculptures, and Capitol building itself. The students were fascinated to see the glass stained seal in discussing the various details of the state seal and how it represented our state.

They learned about the bicameral legislature and how the role of the two houses pertains to passing laws and day to day operations.

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Introducing Weston Ranch’s New Girls Basketball Coach Coach Michael Williams takes over as Weston Ranch’s Girls Basketball Program after 10 years of experience at the High School and Junior College levels.

Mike played basketball locally in Manteca and graduated from Sierra High School in 2002. He played for Scott Thomason as a 2-year varsity starter, Team Captain and on the Division III Section Runner-Up Team.

Coach Williams graduated from Modesto Junior College where he obtained his AA in General Education and in Social and Behavioral Sciences.

During which he started his coaching career at Sierra High School as Assistant Varsity and Head Freshman Coach during 2003-2005.

After that, Mike transferred to CSU Stanislaus where he obtained his BA in

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Social Sciences and his Preliminary Single Subject Credential. In 2007 after finishing his BA, he went back into coaching at Pitman High School. Then, in 2008 was named Assistant Varsity Coach at Ronald E. McNair and next onto Turlock Christian for 3 seasons as a JV Head Coach and a Varsity Head Coach.

Following 7 seasons of coaching at the high school level, Coach Williams moved on to the Junior College level as Assistant Coach for Paul Brogan at Modesto Junior College for 4 seasons. During that time Coach Williams specialized at the Defensive End and game-playing.

Currently, Coach Williams lives in Oakdale and is in the process of obtaining his MA in Educational Leadership and Administration at

Brandman University. Mike has been married for ten years to Liz. Mike and Liz have 3 children with another one on the way in August.

Autism Awareness Day at WRHS.

Cougars of Weston Ranch High School participated in Autism Awareness Day by wearing the Autism Awareness or a solid blue color shirt.

Gavin Wilburn Named Front Row Preps Athlete of the Year

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Night of the Arts On April 11th the Manteca High Visual and Performing Arts Department, in conjunction with the Advanced Floral and Fashion Merchandising classes opened the Winter Gymnasium doors for the Annual Night of the Arts.

This year Mrs. Cyndi Esenwein introduced the first section of 32 students enrolled in the fall AP Studio Art Course. Twelve students will be submitting their portfolios for examinations in May. Mrs. Esenwein was inspired by the DeYoung’s partnership with local San Francisco florists in their annual Bouquets to Art exhibit. She invited Mrs. Heather Nolan’s Advanced Floral students to collaborate with her AP Studio Artists’ to create floral arrangements that coordinated with each of the artist’s pieces.

The diversity in projects and individual student choices from Mrs. Jiana Boudreaux’s Color and Design students made for a dynamic array of art that encapsulated the individual spirit and unique interest of each artist.

Mrs. Boudreaux’s Introduction to Art students’ work was an outpouring of expression in a wide array of mediums.

Ms. Carol Creighton’s Digital Photography students did not disappoint with their variety of photographs providing interesting perspectives of scenes from around the Manteca High campus, as well as a variety of photographs taken off campus.

Ms. Angie Anaya’s Fashion Merchandising students showcased window displays that demonstrated how pop culture and art can influence fashion. Mrs. Dawn Coyan’s Theatre Tech students exhibited

3D stage models and costume drawings.

Musical entertainment throughout the evening was provided by the wind ensemble, guitar, piano, and choir students under the direction of Mr. Anthony Dahl, Mr. Cody Marchetti, and Mr. Andrew Hildebrand.

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HOSA State Leadership We had many significant individuals who made it to round two, with Bianca Anaya in Nursing Assisting, Sophia Cerritos and Martha Avila in EMT, Kaylyn Postma in Medical Photography, and Basia Nojiri, Ella Washburn, Molly Dua, and Nikki Gomez in the Public Service Announcement.

Our very own Manteca HOSA-Future Health Care Professionals traveled to Sacramento to compete with over 4,000 Cal-HOSA students at the State Leadership Conference.

A big congratulations to the individuals who will be taking the chapter to ILC, Zeke Van Staaveren for placing fifth in the state for Prepared Speaking, Basia Nojiri and Nikki Gomez for being state finalists for Outstanding HOSA Chapter, and

MHS Spring Musical Manteca High School Theatre presented their annual spring musical April 4th through the 6th. Under the direction of Mrs. Dawn Coyan, the cast and crew did a fantastic job of

presenting The Addams Family- based on the hilariously dark classic.

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Molly Dua for being elected as a state officer. She is now our Region 5 Vice President representing the LA area!

A big thank you to the amazing advisors for taking care of our chapter at SLC, Mrs. Pasion, Mrs. Merrill, Mr. Ayala, Sr. Burr, and Ms. Behler.

The Manteca HOSA Chapter will be advancing to the International Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida in June.

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3rd Annual All-Star Olympics

Celebrating the 3rd Annual AllStar Olympics at Sierra High School.

Students from Weston Ranch, Lathrop, Manteca, Sierra and East Union High Schools participated in this favored event.

Friends, family and mascots flowered the stadium and grass as they cheered for their favorite participants in events such as 100 Meter, 4x25 Meter Relay, Hurdles, Frisbee Toss, and Long Jump to name a few.

Thank you, Matthew Tate, Special Day Class teacher at Sierra High School, for organizing a much anticipated day for all to share and enjoy.

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M a k i ng th e Ma r k

McParland TK Class Makes Slime

With extra supplies from MELS Oobleck (slime /goo) class donated to Mrs. Buccieri’s and Mrs. Provost’s TK classes at McParland Annex.

These students enjoyed themselves making slime.

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Autism Family Game Night Over 80 people came to the third Family Game Night for families of students with autism.

The autism team played alongside families and worked on social skills such as requesting, waiting, turn taking, and displaying good sportsmanship.

This event also served as a way for families to collaborate with each other and speak with district autism team staff.

Oobleck: Dr. Seuss Goo in MELS Garage MELS Garage hosted Oobleck: Dr. Seuss Goo for kindergarten – second grade students on February 26th.

Students from East Union High School’s Advantage Future Teacher Club designed the lesson and led the class.

Students made Oobleck from Dr.

Seuss’ Bartholomew and the Oobleck.

Students were read the story of Bartholomew and the Oobleck and learned about Newtonain liquid, which is unlike typical fluids.

Oobleck (Newtonian liquid) is a freeflowing liquid, but once force is applied responds more like a solid.

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Jr. CSI Academy

4th - 6th Grade Students June 3-7 or June 10-14, 2019 8 am - 2 pm

Learn from Ofc. Downs, Ofc. Smith and Ofc. Elness of the Manteca Police Department. To participate, complete the separate application.

Students Learn:

Marching and physical training, life lessons and police demonstrations of: Bomb Unit, Crime Scene Processing, CRT, K-9, L.E.A.D., Patrol, SWAT, and Traffic Unit.

Jr. Police Academy

7th - 9th Grade Students July 22 - 26 or July 29 - Aug 2, 2019 8 am - 2 pm

Learn from Ofc. Downs, and Ofc. Smith of the Manteca Police Department. To participate, complete the separate application.

Students Learn:

Marching and physical training, life lessons and police demonstrations of: Bomb Unit, Building Entry, CRT, Defensive Tactics, High Risk Stops, K-9, Patrol, SWAT, and Traffic Unit.

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Take Your Child to Work Day

April 25th was this year’s National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day! HR Certificated Director Dante Alvarez brought his daughter Lola who is a third grade Neil Hafley student.

She is Dante’s youngest child.

Makin g t he M ark

Glimpsing her Sierra High Future While vising the District Office to register and receive her preschool backpack, 3-year-old Alina Alashmail of Nile Garden is excited about growing up to be a Sierra High Timberwolf someday.

Employees and Educators of the Year

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District Celebration

This day allows the MUSD Board to formally acknowledge the efforts of our staff, and the excellence of our students. It also allows us to thank the community for coming together.

After a flag salute led by EUHS JROTC and the National Anthem sung by the LHS Advanced Choir, the ceremony began by honoring our employees and educators of the year.

As he addressed the audience, Superintendent Dr. Clark Burke said, “I’d like to personally welcome every principal, teacher, and coach in the audience tonight. These victories begin in the classroom and on the field, and tonight’s recognitions are a direct reflection of your mentorship and dedication in the lives of our students.”

After the student board member masters of ceremonies thanked the special guests, LHS for hosting and BE.Tech for the refreshments, the awards began.

Each year, Manteca Unified recognizes select individuals as Employees or Educators of the Year. This year, special tributes were read for these outstanding personnel before they

received their award.

Being honored as employees of the year are: •

Mark Duncan, Building Maintenance Specialist – Maintenance Department

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Melissa Finch, Campus Monitor – Manteca Day School

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Brandi Hunt, Office Manager I – Great Valley Annex

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Rhonda Lopez, Paraprofessional II SDC – Stella Brockman School

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Jonya Meyer, Elementary Teacher – Great Valley School

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Melissa DeMatteo, Elementary Teacher – Walter Woodward School

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Scott Pope, Special Day Class Teacher – Walter Woodward School

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Richard Marsh, Special Day Class Teacher – East Union High School

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Loretta Tefertiller, School Nurse – Health Services Department

Other special citizenship awards followed, including honoring the Every

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Student Succeeds recipients, the Make-A-Wish efforts by LHS, August Knodt’s Kindness Committee, and MHS’s safe driving campaign members.

Following these awards, the Academic awards were given for the Valedictorians, Salutatorians, Spelling Bee Winners, the MHS Academic Decathlon team, the Stockton Record Pinnacle awards and more.

Artistic awards were then given to musician and choir members for their county level or higher achievements, including honoring the LHS advanced choir who will be performing at Carnegie Hall this summer.

Athletic awards including honoring LHS’s Chuck Selna for being selected as the SacJoaquin Section Athletic Director of the Year. Other individual awards followed and special team recognitions were given to WRHS Boy’s Baketball and the SHS Girl’s Soccer and Softball teams.

In the final category of the evening, Career Technical Education groups were honored for their achievements. These included: ROTC, DECA, the Calla HS Robotics team, FFA, FCCLA, HOSA, and Skills USA winners.

Every honoree was invited on stage to meet the board, asked to take a portrait photo in the other room, and invited to return. The photographs can be seen via a link on the district’s homepage.

We are deeply grateful for everyone coming out to support their students, and helping to make us all proud to be MUSD!

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Celebration Portraits

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We regret that we do not have sufficient room here to feature everyone honored at the celebration.

We hope that you will enjoy looking at our online photo album where photos can be downloaded to keep.

Thank you for coming out to support staff and student achievements.

See the collection here.

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We are Proud to be MUSD!

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MHS Interior Design Class Helps Create Library Learning Commons

Changing the Manteca High School Library into a more modern Library Learning Commons has been a multi-year project, but with the help of the CTE Interior Design Class, it is moving closer to completion.

After already helping design and improve the MHS Student Store and Learning Center, Interior Design teacher Angie Anaya has worked with her Career Technical Education students from all over the district to plan and execute on a new design for the library.

“It is about bringing fresh excitement and interactive comfort to help create a space that students and teachers will use more,” said Anaya.

In her tenth year with Manteca

Unified, Anaya formerly worked at Delta College and before that in the fashion and design industry.

“My purpose in my class is to give them hands-on opportunities, to run into issues and how to problem solve.

To learn by doing,” Anaya said. “You have to start with the design process, researching trends, surveying teachers and students and figuring out what do to in this space. They treated Mrs. Buchanan as their client and it was a long process to come up with the final elevation.”

Students had to please more than just Mrs. Buchanan and significant planning was needed.

“We started to plan this project a month or two before winter break,” said MHS junior Lily Carter.

“We presented our plans to the Librarian, the principal, vice principal and some people from the district

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office,” said Carter. “There is this super dark green color that we have to put in now because it is the actual Manteca High Green color that they want us to include.”

LHS junior Jaeden Merino came up with the idea of using geometric shapes for the walls.

“I signed up for this class because I have a dream to work in architecture,” said Merino. “I was going through lots of shapes and triangles are simple enough, but they are just nice. The colors are the school colors, just shades of green and gray.”

“We knew that geometric patterns are in [trend] and help create a modern vibe and a sense of unity,” said SHS senior Allie Quiaoit. “Our main focus has been the design of it, where the triangles are going and how we are making the shapes so that it is not too crowded or two spaced.”

Quiaoit has recently been accepted to San Diego State and will be joining their interior design program.

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The new design isn’t just about fresh paint.

“My main role was the soft seating where they are going to sit, hang out and talk,” said EUHS junior Jasmine Hernandez. “We picked the color patterns and what we are doing here in the section. I really like seeing the library change.”

Mary Buchanan, the MHS High School Library Media Technician, has worked in the MHS library for 12 years and at the Joshua Cowell library for over 7 years before that.

Buchanan explained that the soft seating area will include two arm chairs and five modular pieces with backs but no arms to allow for flexible arrangements. The tables and chairs have wheels on them to make them easier to arrange.

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“We are creating an environment that is inviting and alive so that when students do come in, it feels like it is their third place,” Buchanan said.

“You’ve got home, you’ve got work, and this can become their third place where you can feel comfortable to connect.”

In some ways, the library helps bring aspects of a college campus to the high school.

“It is also a place where we are trying to make an active learning area, a social area, and another quiet zone,” Buchanan said. “It is much more like what you would find at a college with different activities and areas to do things.”

Buchanan explained that last year the administration

purchased café style tables with integrated charging hubs that are more inviting to the students. She added that some of those interactive activities will be built into the walls.

“I’m doing the chalk wall and the Lego wall area,” said MHS senior Michelle Bird. “We are going to get black panels and put them on the wall and then paint the whole wall with chalk paint and make it interactive so that students can use it as well.”

In addition to using fabric samples and paint swatches, the students work digitally also.

“On their devices we use software called Easy Decorator that students can use with images, backgrounds, and flooring. It is a great first step for students to create an elevation, create their floorplans and visually put together something,” Anaya said.

Several of her students are excited to continue studying this subject.

“I’m probably going to go to Fresno community college because they have a lot of architecture and interior design classes there,” Carter said. “Then, I will transfer to Fresno State to take the engineering classes so that I can pretty

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much design buildings inside and out.”

Anaya explained that MUSD fashion students can easily transition to Delta College.

“Because we are articulated with Delta, they earn some college credits here in my class,” Anaya said. “When people take a step back and realize what industries are available, there are so many opportunities for careers that students can go into. We all wear clothes and we all live inside of a space. There is landscape architecture, commercial design, public spaces, lighting and all of that.”

The students shared that near the front entrance will be a quote by author Neil Gaiman. “A book is a dream that you hold in your hands.” This captures the library’s purpose.

“The library is like a treasure chest that has so many things that can bridge the gap for students and help them succeed at whatever path they choose,” said Buchanan.

“Although I run the library, I am not a teacher librarian. I have hope that as we move forward with the learning commons and start drawing in more students, perhaps we can again have teacher librarians who help prepare our students to be career and future ready.”

The grand re-opening of the library is Tuesday, May 21st.

We love our Libraries!

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SHS Blood Drive Helps Local Hospitals Aisha Saeed

Student Intern According to statistics from the American Red Cross, every two seconds somebody in the U.S needs blood.

Sierra High School students had the opportunity to donate blood on campus April 15th. For many, it was their first time donating. Many students enjoyed the experience and the boons that came with it- like receiving a cookie, pack of orange juice, and a free Vitalant t-shirt once finished donating blood.

A donor program director from Vitalant—one of the oldest and largest nonprofit transfusion medicine organizations—explained the donation process.

Each student was assigned an appointment time, arranged according to last name. Students reported to the small gym where the blood donation process would occur.

Before meeting with Vitalant’s nurses, students wrote out their personal information on a card. During their consultation, nurses checked the students’ vitals, blood pressure, temperature, and they pricked their finger to test their blood and analyze whether or not the student was capable of giving blood. Basic requirements included being at least 16 years of age and weighing 110 pounds or more.

“At first, I was afraid I wasn’t going

to be able to donate blood because I was so afraid of needles, but everyone was really nice and made sure that we were taken care of,” said senior Cyrus Hunter.

“I’m so happy I got to do this.

I would definitely do this again.”

To ensure the safety of the patients who would be receiving the blood, students filled out a 50-question survey on their physical health.

Then, like a factory belt, students transitioned to a different area where they waited their turn to get their blood drawn.

After about 15 minutes, students were dismissed and supplied with food, and as a token of their appreciation, a free Vitalant t-shirt.

Junior Grace Zhen said, “The experience was fulfilling.”

Thanks to Sierra High School students’ support, blood transfusions continue to impact local patients and hospitals in a big way.

Students reflected on their experience.

As junior Giulia Pantano put it, “I was a little nervous at first, but I was proud of myself for pushing through and having the opportunity to impact someone’s life in a positive way.”

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WRHS HOSA Club Experiences the SLC’s Julia Martinez Student Intern

“California State HOSA Future Health Professionals (Cal-HOSA) provided an exciting and engaging experience for numerous Junior High, High School, and even Post-Secondary HOSA clubs across California at the 2019 State Leadership Conference (SLC’s),” said Matthew O’Donnell, a HOSA instructor at WRHS. Approximately thirty Weston Ranch

Cougars were sent to Sacramento to be a part of CAL-HOSA SLC’s and participate in an abundance of leadership developing opportunities including academic and skill competitions.

“I’ve learned that there are plenty of students in California who share the same goals as I do.

Together, we become more united through friendly competition,” said senior Lissette Loera, HOSA CoPhilanthropy Chair.

The SLC’s included an overnight stay in Sacramento from March 28th to the 31st. This allowed Weston Ranch students to build a stronger bond with one another, meet new people and engage in new experiences.

Brittany Vang, Weston Ranch’s HOSA President as a junior, said she was able to learn more about leadership and how to improve herself as the

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President. She also said that she developed an even deeper passion for health science and HOSA. The medical events that students competed in included: Extemporaneous Writing, Nursing Assisting, Sports Medicine, Health Career Display, Medical Terminology, and Prepared Speech.

Each event required students to take multiple steps to be successful such as passing a written test before competing in a skill-based test.

“Every day, there was something to do. There were so many workshops to attend!” said Vang. “One very special one, in particular, was the Anatomage workshop, where we got to learn more about the Anatomage table 3D anatomy software. We also got the chance to engage and play with them!”

There were also opportunities to volunteer.

“Aside from workshops and our individual competitive events, we had the great opportunity to do Courtesy Corps, where we can volunteer to help at specific events, booths, and/or workshops,” said Vang. “WRHS HOSA students mainly helped at HOSA

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BOWL, the competitive event that we hosted, and the HOSA Store.”

Another HOSA member, senior Lance Bunyi, described his fulfilling experience as a way of being more social and involved in school. He said that he has learned to become a leader rather than a follower by being involved with HOSA and participating in events like these.

Not only did this event provide new kinds of educational experiences, but it awarded students who excelled in the event they participated in. There were four students amongst Weston Ranch who were recognized for their outstanding achievement.

Kathleen Yang was recognized for excelling in HOSA Happening, in which students record and illustrate the happenings on campus, such as HOSA oriented events and newsletter content.

Sarisha Jacobs achieved recognition through the newly introduced event of the Cal-HOSA Leadership Camp, where she engaged in numerous leadership activities and then tested on those nearing the end of the event.

Amongst the four students, two were

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recognized and are advancing in Extemporaneous Writing to HOSA’s National Leadership Conference (ILC’s) in Orlando, Florida this summer.

Jucel Suero and Edria Jabil competed by being given a topic and relating that topic to the theme of Mental Health.

“My favorite part about the event was cheering for any recognition WRHS HOSA students received,” said Vang.

Bunyi described students enjoying being recognized for their achievements at the opening and closing ceremonies.

All in all, the SLC’s were a fantastic three-day learning experience for students of Weston Ranch HOSA members to meet new people and engage in new leadership and educational activities.

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EOD Bomb Squad Visits LHS STEAM Class Vanditha Vemparala Student Intern

“This is the best job you can do in the police by far,” Officer Mortensen said.

“We get to blow stuff up. It doesn’t get any cooler than that, right?”

that they may have never heard of.

The bomb squad provided a unique example of a possible STEM profession students could pursue.

On April 3rd, the San Joaquin County Sheriff Department’s EOD Team (aka Bomb Squad) came to LHS to show students their cool gadgets, including the robot they use to disarm bombs and 3 different drones.

“It is funny,” Sgt. Ward said, “Because one of the first comments we get is, ‘Hey do you cut the red wire or the blue wire?’”

Students often think of engineers or computer programmers as a typical STEM profession. This presentation allows students to see that there is a very wide range of STEM careers

A lot of people have a misunderstanding about what the EOD team actually does. What the public knows is a small piece of the truth that is shown on television.

Presentations like these allow students a glimpse at STEM careers inspiring students and motivating them to pursue options that can be achieved without going to college.

Megan Smith, the STEAM 101 teacher at LHS, thought the best way to introduce students to STEM careers was to actually have real STEM professionals come in and meet with students and share their experiences.

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“I plan to track student responses to these presentations, and I hope to hear from my students in the future about the pathway they ended up taking in STEM,” Smith said.

As he explained the connection to working at this job and learning, Ward said, “This is one job where your education never stops.”

Ward explained that to join the team, applicants go through a physical agility test where they have a bomb suit on and have to carry 10-20 pounds worth of equipment (a total of around 100 lb.) up to the 5th floor. Applicants also go through a dexterity test where you have to memorize a pattern and put it together in the dark.

With math, they need to find out how much safe area they need to keep people away when disarming an explosive device.

“The closer you are, the more dangerous it is,” Ward said. “I can tell you for a fact that I have been too close a couple of times because my math was off. Which is why in my right ear I am partially deaf.”

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The motto of the unit is: Initial Success or Total Failure.

“We either do it right the first time or you are not going to get it right at all,” said Ward. “The shock wave that is put out by the bomb has a certain PSI that can hurt you or even kill you.”

However, with newer technologies their job becomes a little safer.

“We have drones and they are godsend,” said Ward. “We can send one up to over watch while doing an entry.”

To wrap up his presentation, Ward encouraged the students to learn how to learn.

“It’s so much easier to learn to study when you’re younger,” said Ward.

“You guys have everything at your fingertips. Use it to the best of your ability and keep on putting in hard work.”

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EUHS Leadership Behind the Scenes Daniel Acevedo Student Intern

The East Union Leadership class works behind the scenes on campus- they are the worker bees of the school.

Leadership oversees putting on Homecoming, Rallies, and most of the student recognitions.

“What many people don’t really notice is how much time and preparation is needed to put on these events,” said Alexandra Baez.

For homecoming, you can find leadership very busy making sure everything is not only perfect for the Friday rally, but for the entire spirit week. Candidate nominations, balloon arches, music, floats, and class dances are some of many things that are quietly planned months in advanced by these students.

April is an exciting time of year because leadership campaigning for an ASB Office position, begins.

EUHS leadership has many positions, and class officers are especially busy during these two weeks. They are in charge of building floats- which not only require putting up the materials but calling companies to obtain everything.

ASB Officers include a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer for each class and then an ASB group.

There are also ASB Commissioners who may not hold a prestigious title, but they have very important tasks.

At EUHS, we have Audio visual commissioners who are tasked with being on the intercom throughout the week and on Fridays, put out a creative video to showcase announcements.

Rally Commissioners have one of the most entertaining jobs as they put on an entire rally for the whole school.

Lastly, election commissioners oversee all the homecoming candidates and organize everything for upcoming leadership elections.

Leadership elections were this month’s biggest topic. Many outgoing students decided to apply for next year’s ASB officers, but with that comes some overlap with current duties.

Campaigning is a very interesting week for the leadership class. It becomes a very friendly, creative and competitive environment. It gives the students a chance to showcase their greatest leadership abilities in order to be chosen for the position they want.

The most prestigious position in the class is ASB President. They are the

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ones in charge of the entire class.

Aside from the advisor Mrs. Cano, the president approves of all of the activities leadership puts on, speaks to the entire student body, and also leads the very important ASB meetings held every Tuesday.

interest in wanting to participate,” said Cameron Torres.

This year, the EUHS ASB President was Rachel Weaver. She is a Senior and will be passing the torch to one of two Candidates: Tony Rattanasack or Brooklyn Johnson. Brooklyn currently serves as East Union’s student board member among Manteca Unified’s Board of Trustees.

Overall, leadership helps students, both shy and outgoing, learn to express their own creativity and opinions to make their overall high school

“ASB President means that you are there for the students and student body to make their school year and environment the best that it could be,” said Johnson. “Overall, it is not putting yourself as a boss, but as a leader to help students in need.”

Many students decide to join ASB Office their final year of high school.

“Being in school activities and watching some of these events put on by my friends sparked my

“I didn’t know they did this much, but once I found out, I wanted to join.”

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experience enjoyable.

No matter the outcome of this year’s elections, the EUHS Leadership Class of 2018-2019 is happy to be celebrating their banquet on April 30th and excited to welcome the new 2019-2020 Leadership Class.

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MHS Enters Distracted Driving Campaign 64% percent of American crashes are due to distracted driving.

Kaylee MacDannald Student Intern

Therefore, with April being distracted driving awareness month, National Honors Society’s lead commissioner Nina Norton entered the club into the annual Distracted Driving contest once again.

This contest is put on every year by All State Foundation and The Safety Center. It is used to promote awareness about Distracted Driving and the consequences that come with it.

Manteca High has entered the contest for three years and has won a grand total of $3,000 dollars for the school—which was put towards the Honor the Code program and scholarship funds.

“The motivation of winning prize money is definitely important,” said Norton. “It’s just the idea of trying to get kids to think. You hear your phone, you grab it, you don’t realize how easy

it is to get distracted.”

This year, as MHS heads into the contest for the fourth time, they are working hard for first place with many activities to get students involved.

At the beginning, Norton had all club members observe and tally the percentage of drivers who were distracted. Each student was given a designated area near the school to survey. Students were shocked by the results.

Active participants and club members, Sophia Cerritos and Karen Alvarez said, “There were way more distracted drivers than we thought, almost everybody was doing something.

Everywhere in the world distracted driving is an issue and you need to be safe.”

This gave the team the motivation to attack this contest head on with activities and social media blasts.

Some activities included: Snapchat day, they say day, and prom buddy letters written by elementary students to encourage safe driving and smart decisions on prom night.

The group took a picture with their All

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State agent and went out to the nearest elementary school to police the cross walk; making it safer for the students to walk home.

The club talked to Manteca High School’s dedicated Principal, Mr. Gonzales, to change the parking permit paper work. Next year, before students receive their parking pass, each student must sign a contract

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as well as read many statistics and warnings about distracted driving.

Finally, the participants go to the Manteca Unified School Board meeting every year where they share information about the club and objectives for the current year.

When asked why this contest was so important,

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Norton said, “If we save one life, it is totally worth all the time and effort.�

The results of their success and hard work will come at the end of the month when they will learn the contest results. Meanwhile, the club continues their awareness activities and their safe driving campaign.

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EUHS AP Bio Students Research Beach Erosion To really learn science, you have to get out of the classroom.

East Union Science Department Chair Polly Ficken took some of her AP Biology students to the Jr. Research Program.

“We went to Carmel State Beach twice and met with a researcher who is studying Beach erosion patterns and collected data for her,” said Ficken.

“She is using the data to help build an understanding of how and why beaches erode the way they do.”

This kind of research required the dual visits to the beach to see how things had changed.

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“We went to this outlet a little south of Carmel where this fresh water river meets the ocean,” said senior Kelly Francesca Ball. “We wanted to see how the geographical land features change when fresh water breaks and

overflows into the ocean.”

This was unlike a classroom lab in a limited and controlled environment.

“This is different from the class because it is all up to you and not based on a paper or a procedure,” said senior Gurleen Kaur. “It was more independent brainstorming. We had to figure out how to get the most information.”

To save money, the class built their own sieves. Each sieve had a different sized mesh screen to separate various sizes of sand samples.

“We had filters of differ sizes and you zip tie them to aluminum cans and then you shake it,” said Ball. “You put the sand in, and the smaller particles filter through, and then from the larger particles, we would measure the masses of sand left over.”

Ball explained that they looked at the proportion of different particle sizes depending on where they took the samples from. They also looked at how it changed on their second visit after the river water broke through the sandbar and entered the ocean.

In addition to using the sieves, the students ran tests using scientific equipment.

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1 “We used a pipette and got water from the river to put it on the salinity tester,” said senior Steffy Mathew. “We would check the amount of salinity in that water.”

Senior Emily Afre added, “We would also check the oxygen content by dipping a little rod in to measure the PH of the water.”

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The students felt it brought their classroom learning to life.

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“We went for two days and it was like actually doing field research and collecting data to answer a hypothesis,” said Ball.

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2. Building Sieves. Each Sieve had

a different sized mesh screen to separate various sizes of sand samples.

“I am interested in becoming a scientist when I am older, and I felt like that was a really good simulation of what I would do in the field as my job.”

All the girls interviewed are excited to play a future role in a STEM related field. One is planning on working in pharmaceuticals, another intends to study pre-med optometry or ophthalmology. One will pursue chemical engineering and one wants to be a nurse.

“This gave me a good idea of what being a science teacher might be like,”

First meeting with Dr. Orescanin on our second trip out to Carmel State Beach. How the beach has changed!

3. Sifting through the samples.

4. Sorting sand samples for research.

5. Collecting data from the sand samples.

5 senior Alyssa Nascimento continues, “and what the science field might be like if that is something I might want to do.”

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C o m mu n i ty C or n e r

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Shasta GECAC STEM Night Shasta school’s amazing Give Every Child A Chance (GECAC) after school program produced their Second Annual Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Night on April 11.

It was a huge success!

Almost 200 Shasta Hornets and their family members attended this opportunity to get our Science game on!

Students interacted with many different types of media while they deepened their understanding of various science phenomena.

The GECAC instructors skillfully taught program participants about the wonderful world of science. The explored the dangers and implications to our planet from the trash dumped into our oceans, to electrical currents and how they travel.

It was an amazing night, we are so grateful to our outstanding GECAC program and their dedicated support to enriching the lives of the Shasta Hornets!

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C o m mu n it y C o r n er

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LHS Every 15 Minute Program

LHS held their annual Every 15 Minutes program to remind their students of the horrors that can result from drinking and driving.

The graphic nature of the simulation has been more effective at reducing teenage alcohol use than merely discussing the issue.

A rally is held the following day that doubles as a mock funeral and opportunity for students to hear from speakers on the issue.

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M a k i ng th e Ma r k

Child Abuse Prevention Month

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