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Our
Schools, Our Kids,
Our Future --
Around The District
Posted on February 23, 2011 |
Editor's Note:
The following
listings of activities around Clovis Unified School
District were previously published in CUSD Today in
February 2011.
Valley Oak third-graders celebrate literature in
character
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To celebrate their love of literature,
Valley Oak Elementary’s third grade students
and their teachers came to school dressed as
their favorite book character for Valley Oak
third-graders’ fourth annual Character Day.
Each student was required to introduce their
book, state the author and genre, present a
summary of their book to their class, and
explain why they selected that particular
book. The students were also required to
answer questions from the audience about the
story in first person. |
200102.jpg)
Photo Courtesy of CUSD
Today |
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Teacher participation included Peggy Hillis
as The Mad Hatter, Jacey Domoto as Tacky the
Penguin and Stacey Firpo as Alice in
Wonderland. |
Reyburn student selected to attend state leadership
conference
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Reed Hooke, a Reyburn Intermediate
eighth-grader, was nominated by her AB
teacher, Sara Higgins, to attend the
National Young Leaders State Conference (NYLSC)
in Irvine in April 2011.
Themed “Courageous Leadership,” the NYLSC
helps students take an introspective and
highly-personalized assessment of their
leadership skills and abilities. Throughout
the four-day program, participants in 35
locations across the country build a working
“toolkit” of strategies to help them |
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successfully dream, create and
implement plans that will change how they
view their role as leaders in their
communities.
Reed worked hard to raise money to attend the conference
including a recent spaghetti fundraiser that brought in
$744.
Involved in many school-based and extracurricular
organizations and programs, Reed keeps busy with the
winter guard program, State Honor Choir, Destination
ImagiNation, CJSF, her church youth group, and
volunteering her time with the Loaves and Fishes Food
Ministry at Clovis First Assembly of God, helping to
distribute approximately 200 bags of food every month,
and also volunteering at the Reagan Elementary School
book fairs and snack shacks. She is on the principal’s
honor roll and received the Timberwolf Way Apex
award last year.
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(Photo Courtesy of CUSD
Today)
Buchanan musicians perform in Beatles tribute at
Warnors Theatre Feb. 19, 2011
Members of the Buchanan High School string quartet will
have the unique opportunity to perform on stage with
Beatles musicians and actors in “In My Life – A Musical
Theatre Tribute to the Beatles” at Fresno’s Warnors
Theatre on Feb. 19.
The tribute is a retelling of the band’s story through
the eyes of manager Brian Epstein and features the live
music of world-renowned tribute band, Abbey Road.
Buchanan senior Sophia Liang (violin), senior Jackie
Power (violin), sophomore Sean Calinao (viola) and
freshman Victoria Arias (cello) were selected by Heidi
Franklin, director of orchestras for the Buchanan
Educational Center, to join the show’s “Paul” onstage as
a string quartet during the song “Yesterday.” The
quartet will also perform with the band on KMPH Fox 26’s
“Great Day” program between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Feb.
18.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for my students to
perform with professionals,” said Franklin. “It will be
an amazing experience for them.”
Sophia, who will perform as first violin in the Beatles
tribute, has performed with the California Orchestra
Director’s Association and the Fresno Youth Philharmonic
Quartet. “Performing music is unselfish and I love
working together with an orchestra or quartet towards
the same goal,” said Sophia. “Our quartet is working
hard to perfect the music for the Beatles show.”
The Beatles have a special place in Sean’s musical past.
“The first song I learned on the guitar was ‘Let It Be’
by the Beatles,” he said. “I am going to enjoy
performing in a Beatles show. It will be a very
different experience for us; at the end of the show the
quartet takes a synchronized Beatles bow!”
Tickets for “In My Life – A Musical Theatre Tribute to
the Beatles” are available at
www.fultonstreetproject.com and 559-264-2848.
Gettysburg students participate in taste test
Valerie Casado’s second grade class at Gettysburg
Elementary School recently participated in a taste test
to help Campus Catering choose new menu items they are
considering to serve CUSD students. Students sampled and
evaluated mini pancakes, waffle sticks, and egg and
cheese sunrise sticks. “Thanks to Ms. Casado’s students,
you may see new items on future menus!” said GIS Diana
Copeland.
Fresno police officers visit Cole students to collect
holiday donations
The students in Laura Hunter’s third grade classroom at
Cole Elementary collected toys to donate to needy
families in the Clovis and Fresno area for the holiday
season and were very excited when two officers from the
Fresno Police Department came to pick up the
donations. Officer Wyatt and Officer Taliaferro arrived
Dec. 17 in their police cruiser to collect the gifts.
The officers thanked the students for the donation of
toys and gave each one stickers and a booklet. “The
students in Mrs. Hunter’s class were pleased that their
donations will be helpful to others and excited to meet
the officers and view their vehicle,” said Cole Student
Activities Specialist Sara Sanchez.
BHS business class spearheads book drive
Students in Linda Bone’s Small
Business Management class at Buchanan High held the
fourth annual Books from Bears Book Drive recently that
brought in a total of 9,060 books which were donated to
the Marjaree Mason Center, United Way, Children's
Hospital Central California and the Craycroft Center.
The class with the
most books donated won a donut party hosted by the
student store, Bear Necessities, which is overseen by
Small Business Management students. This year’s top
donators were the students in Casey Carter’s class
with 1,627 books and John Gross’ class with 1,577.
Further supporting the community, the Small Business
Management class offered pictures with Santa during the
holidays. Buchanan special needs students and preschool
children were invited to take their picture with Santa
as guests of Bear Necessities.
CHS’ Cavalcade wins national honor
Clovis High yearbook student staff and Advisor Thomas
Craig recently submitted their 2010 Cavalcade yearbook,
themed What Is Green?, in a competition held by the
American Scholastic Press Association. The CHS yearbook
received 925 points out of a possible 1,000, earning a
first place award. The honor is shared with 100 other
schools in the nation out of the approximately 2,000
that applied. Participants are evaluated in several
areas including use of pictures, creative writing and
how accurately the yearbook depicts the school year.
“We are extremely proud of this award,” said Editor
Reina Conboy. “The CHS yearbook staff has worked very
hard to create a top-notch yearbook.” Editor Jamie Nigg
added, “It is a great honor for our school.” Both Reina
and Jamie were quick to give credit to Craig saying,
“Mr. Craig has created an environment that is fun to
work in, but we work very hard.”
Christmas Cards for the Troops brings in 9,300 cards
Clovis West High School held its fourth annual Christmas
Cards for Our Troops collection drive of Christmas cards
to send to U.S. troops. The successful drive brought in
more than 9,300 cards from the district and community
which were sent to soldiers overseas, as well as
state-side, who were serving and away from home during
the holidays.
“The students of Clovis Unified wrote cards and letters
to send over to troops to make sure that they are well
aware that they know how much they are appreciated for
all they’ve given up in the name of freedom,” said
Clovis West Student Activities Specialist Rosie Reed who
has been coordinating the drive since 2006.
“Thanks to every single
student, parent and teacher that took time to either
make those extra special handmade cards, or write
something special in a store bought card,” added Reed.
“You make a difference. Thank you to each and every one
of you that contributed to help pay for the postage.
From the Transportation Dept. to the students in Mrs.
Tina Chan’s second grade class at Red Bank, Room 21
[sixth-graders in Donna Geil’s class] at Cedarwood
Elementary, and the many individual donations. Without
your help it would have been impossible to mail this on
my own. Let’s pray for peace and that soon this will no
longer be necessary.”
Walmart donates $8,500 to fund busing for Pinedale
students
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Representatives from Walmart came out to the
Pinedale community Dec. 13 to deliver the
store’s donation of $8,500, which will be
used to pay for bus passes that will enable
Pinedale students to get to their secondary
schools, Kastner Intermediate and Clovis
West High. |
Photo Courtesy of CUSD
Today |
|
The generous donation traces back to last
June when Amelia Neufeld, senior manager of
public affairs and government relations for
Walmart, approached Pinedale Neighborhood
Resource Center Coordinator Linda Amparano
asking about the needs of the Pinedale
community and offering assistance whenever
needed.
“It wasn’t until August when I began to sell
the bus passes for students in Pinedale to
get to Kastner and Clovis West that I
realized parents were really struggling even
more this year to pay for their child’s bus
pass,” said Amparano. “Feeling their angst
from not having enough money to pay and
still realizing we still had to come up with
the full amount to pay Transportation for
the bus, Amelia’s words rang in my head, ‘If
there is anything you need, be sure and let
us know.’ I thought I would take her up on
the offer and they came through with flying
colors!”
With Walmart’s donation, the cost families
have to pay for their community-funded bus
has been offset. “Many parents live on fixed
incomes and having to pay anywhere from $155
to $500 more in one month is incredibly
daunting and frankly not feasible,” said
Amparano. “Living in Pinedale we have the
biggest shopping center in the whole Central
Valley between us and Kastner and Clovis
West so walking is a safety issue. This
donation is a huge help to families
and they are very appreciative!" |
BHS ballet dancer performs in Youth American Grand Prix
Buchanan High student June Mallada recently traveled to
New York to perform in the Youth American Grand Prix
ballet competition for girls between the ages of 17-21.
She first competed in San Francisco to qualify for the
New York opportunity. June won a one month intensive
scholarship from Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah,
and is featured in this month’s issue of “The Pointe”
magazine. She currently studies ballet in Fresno at the
Northwest Ballet Studio and aspires to perform
professionally.
Gateway staff
celebrates Model Continuation School award
The staff at
Gateway High School celebrated its designation as a 2011
Model Continuation School, one of only 27 schools in the
state to be recognized for the prestigious honor, with
cake and balloons on Jan. 5.
The Model
Continuation School program recognizes exemplary
continuation schools around the state. Continuation high
schools serve students ages 16 years or older who lack
sufficient school credits and are at risk of not
graduating. The Model Continuation Program identifies
and recognizes outstanding programs to create a resource
list of quality programs for school visitations and for
other continuation high schools to emulate. Gateway will
retain the title for three years and must submit an
annual assurance of compliance with model school
guidelines in order to maintain the designation.
Cedarwood’s Flat Stanley travels to D.C. with
superintendent
CUSD Superintendent Dave Cash, Ed.D., took a very active
part in the Flat Stanley project in Ruth Durant’s second
grade classroom at Cedarwood Elementary. “After visiting
our class and learning about our goal to have Flat
Stanley visit all 50 states, Dr. Cash offered to take
Flat Stanley with him on a business trip to our nation’s
Capitol,” said Durant. “Dr. Cash sent us some wonderful
pictures of the important places Stanley visited while
in Washington, D.C.”
After Stanley’s big jaunt, Durant’s class now learned
about Washington, D.C. and some of the other places Flat
Stanley has visited. “We are determined to send Stanley
to as many states as we can and write reports about the
places he has visited,” said Durant. So far, Stanley has
been to six states. “Flat Stanley’s travels are teaching
us about our country in a way we never imagined,” she
said.
Clovis FFA members dominate at sectional competition
On
Nov. 9, two buses loaded 90 Clovis FFA students
representing all five CUSD high schools to travel to
Reedley College for the sectional Opening and Closing
Competition. Clovis FFA students dominated the
competition by winning five divisions, earning second
place finishes in three divisions and third place in two
divisions. Clovis FFA also had 21 students recognized as
the outstanding officer for their divisions. Results
include:
First place open team members from Clovis East High
were: Bre Wiseman (outstanding vice president),
Delayna Fitzgerald (outstanding vice president),
Jamielyn Moe (outstanding president), Jazmyne
Thompson (outstanding sentinel), Cori Hancock,
Mackenzie Hastings, Kayli Craft, Taylor Newberry,
Kristin Herring, Taylor McGrath, Arianna Martinez;
Buchanan High: Acacia Bucholz; Clovis North High:
Dakota Bollenger; Clovis High: Marrisa Accardo,
Lindsey Payseno, Breanna Riggs (outstanding
reporter); Clovis West High: Angie Germanovich
(outstanding sentinel), Kayli Gobeli.
First place freshmen team members from Clovis East
High were: Bre Nuefield (outstanding president),
Annie Blanks (outstanding president), Astrid Rameriz
(outstanding secretary), Jessica Fairbanks
(outstanding reporter), Jared Despain, Quinn Grady,
Travis McDonald; Clovis High: Malerie Crenshaw
(outstanding vice president), Annjanae Sundstorm,
Jenna Rutledge (outstanding vice president),
Victoria Brantley, Jeremy Romanoski.
Other outstanding officers included Kelsy Gray
(outstanding reporter), Grant Yang (outstanding
sentinel), Cayla Elwood (outstanding sentinel),
Kaitlyn Pool (outstanding reporter), Courtney Fund
(outstanding president), Chaz Dadino (outstanding
sentinel), Cassie Dorrell (outstanding reporter),
Colton Baker (outstanding treasure).
22 CUSD
dancers open for Rockettes’
Christmas Spectacular in Fresno
On Dec. 14, New
York City’s Rockettes came to Fresno to perform in the
Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes
onstage at the Save Mart Center.
The New York City Dance Alliance (NYCDA), a group of
professional dance teachers, choreographers and
professionals from all genres of dance in New York City,
selected Fresno/Clovis’ “In The Spotlight” Dance Team to
open the 7:30 p.m. show. The team, comprised of 22
dancers from Clovis West and Clovis high schools, Clark
and Granite Ridge intermediate schools, and Gettysburg,
Maple Creek, Mountain View, Riverview, Valley Oak, and
Woods elementary schools, worked hard under the
direction of Ashley Gorden to put together a number to
open the show that would be “Rockette-worthy.”
The dance troupe
asked the community to buy tickets online or through the
Rockettes’ sales office using a special code that would
direct part of the proceeds from the sales to
scholarships for dancers pursuing a college or
professional career in dance.
In the Spotlight Dance
Center is located at Chestnut and Shepherd avenues.
*This article was originally
published in CUSD Today, February 2011, and is
republished on
ExperienceClovis.com with permission. All rights reserved.
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