Teen Court Jurors Judge Their Peers
Once a month, students in Marcy Calnan’s social studies classes at Valencia High School take their places in a local courtroom to serve as jurors in Teen Court proceedings. Local teens charged with minor infractions can choose the Teen Court alternative to having their cases heard in regular juvenile court. Teen Court jurors sometimes impose harsher penalties than the regular court, but it often takes less time to complete the sentences and is a reality check on the defendants to see how their peers view their offense. It’s also a learning experience for the jurors, who see the trial process at work while offering a second chance to other teens who have to face the consequences of their poor choices.
King Arthur Inspires Conference Paper
Christine Marsh, an English teacher at West Ranch High School, drew on discussions from her King Arthur class as well as her summer travels abroad to inspire a paper she presented at the annual UC Celtic Conference at UCLA. Sessions focused on all aspects of Celtic culture, including language, literature, history, art and archeology, from late antiquity until the present day. Marsh’s paper was titled “Things Are Never What They Appear: Conflicts and Contradictions in T.H. White’s ‘The Once and Future King.’” The conference draws scholars from throughout the Untied States and abroad.
Virtual Enterprise Earn ‘Real’ Awards
Acoustic Cakes and Apparel, the Virtual Enterprise company formed by the Regional Occupational Program’s VE class, won third place in Web Design and fifth place for Booth Display at the recent Long Beach Trade Fair. The local group was competing against 75 companies from across Southern California for the honor. The class recently celebrated its second anniversary, noting that the group has never entered a trade fair without bringing home an award–even when they were brand new. Summer O’Brien is VE instuctor and Josie Grine is the ROP adviser at Golden Valley High School.
Valencia Cadets Bring Home Awards
Cadets in the 782nd Air Force Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) at Valencia High School brought home first place trophies in Inspection, second place in Unarmed Drill Team Inspection, and first place in Sweepstakes for overall score in three different categories. The Inspection competition includes a knowledge test in current events, government leadership and uniform inspection. Sean Gorman and Jacob Adler from West Ranch High School accepted the trophies on behalf of their Valencia JROTC teammates. They were competing against teams from 15 colleges and 22 high schools from all over the United States in the Southern California Invitational Drill Meet, the largest drill meet west of the Mississippi.
Valencia Sophomores Visit College Campuses
Forty-five Valencia High School sophomores attended a visitation day trip to UC Santa Barbara and Westmont College with several counseling department staff members. The Valencia counseling department takes interested students to eight different colleges each year including Loyola Marymount University, California State University Fullerton, Chapman University, University of California Riverside, and Pepperdine University, to name a few.
History Lessons Turns Into Earthquake Relief
A medieval times simulation in Leslie Conners’ World History class at La Mesa Junior High School turned into a lesson in benevolent giving when “king” Justin Dulay levied “taxes” on his fellow classmates and decreed that the proceeds would go for Haitian earthquake victims. The idea caught on through all of Conner’s seventh grade classrooms and brought in $166, which was presented to the American Red Cross to support Haiti relief projects.
Hart Dancers Perform at ‘Senior Prom’
Although formal gowns, corsages and tuxedos were the predominant attire worn by those attending the “Senior Prom” themed fundraising dinner hosted by the SCV Senior Center Foundation, Hart High School’s Dance Team arrived in much more casual dress. The team was there to entertain dinner guests with one of their award-winning hip hop numbers. Kathy Crone, director of fundraising for the Senior Center, reported that the team received rave reviews following their performance.
Saugus High Celebrates National Peace Corps Week
1999 Saugus High School graduate Andrew Erlichman returned to his alma mater to celebrate National Peace Corps Week by sharing his experiences in the corps with all three of the school’s AVID classes. After graduating from San Jose State with a B.A. in Political Science, Erlichman worked for a small software company and then joined the Peace Corps and served from June of 2005 to July of 2007 on the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. After finishing his service, he returned to attend graduate school at USC, earning a Masters of Public Administration. Students loved his presentations, calling them “awesome, hilarious, relatable and informative.”
Science Olympiad Challenges Rancho Pico Team
The Science Olympiad Team from Rancho Pico Junior High School returned from the 24th annual Los Angeles County Science Olympiad competition with two second place awards and three third place awards, and many of the seventh graders who will return for next year’s competition have already started studying for their events next year. The Rancho Pico team was competing against 33 other junior high/middle schools across the county. This was Rancho Pico’s second year in the competition and the team represented the Hart District well. Rancho Pico took second place in Pentathlon and Physical Science Lab and third place in Anatomy, Bio Process Lab and Compute This. The school’s team of seventh and eighth graders is coached by Rancho Pico teachers Cindy Wilkin and Lilex Balmonte.
