February 26, 2009

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

Leland parents hold fundraiser

Pictured, from left: Daryk Tenorio, Winnie Jaw, Dorothy Kennedy, Liz Chamberlin, Nancy Dauenhauer, Nancy Pyle, Leslie Reynolds, Don Iglesias, and Jengsen Hwang (emcee).

On Sunday, Feb. 22, Leland Bridge Parents Group, held another successful fundraiser.

The group uses the funds to help create a better education environment for Leland students. This year, 330 tickets were sold and the group raised more than $10,000.

Competing with the bad weather and the Academy Awards, more than 300 people cane including. San Jose City Councilmember Nancy Pyle, SJ Unified Board President Leslie Reynolds and Superintendent Don Iglesias Principal Liz Chamberlin and Vice Principals Nancy Dauenhauer, Dorothy Kennedy, Daryk Tenorio, Victoria Kim and several teachers also attended.

So far this year, the group has provided more than $14,000 for school facility improvement, teachers’ professional development, speech and debate and novels for classroom use.

Eight years ago, the school contacted a group of Chinese-American parents to help raise money for the Media Center. That fundraising effort contributed the recognition of the potential contribution from this group of immigrant parents, and the realization of how little Chinese-American families knew what was happening at school. That lack of understanding had resulted in less parental participation. Leland Bridge was formally founded to facilitate communication between school and Chinese-American families, and to promote parent involvement in school matters.

Leland Bridge Night is not just for Leland parents and students. Many alumni parents and students come back for this special event. “If the event has been successful, it is the joint effort of parents, students, the school and the community. Leland Bridge just brings everyone together to make it happen. It’s the community spirit that keeps us all going year after year,” said Winnie Jaw, president of Leland Bridge.

Leland grad makes dean’s list

Evan Michael Woock (right), a 2004 graduate of Leland High School and a current senior marketing major at the University of Colorado, Boulder made the Leeds School of Business dean’s list for fall semester 2008.

The dean’s list requires that a student hold a 3.5 or better GPA and be enrolled in at least 12 graded credit hours of coursework for the given semester. This achievement ranks Woock among the top students at CU.

He is also a board member of Leeds Council, the student government of the Leeds School of Business as well as Delta Sigma Pi professional business fraternity. Woock attended the 2008 summer session at Harvard University. He plans to return to San Jose after graduation to pursue a career at a technology start-up.

Woock is the son of Greg and Lisa Woock, who live in Almaden Valley.

Eighteen CCOC students earn Grove Foundation scholarships

Eighteen Central County Occu-pational Center students will receive a Grove Foundation School-to-Career Scholarship valued at up to $4,000 to spend on tuition, books and related educational expenses.

CCOC is one of 10 high schools in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties that are eligible to participate in the Grove Scholarship program. CCOC—a unit of MetroED—provides career-technical education for more than 35 high schools in six Silicon Valley school districts: Campbell Union High School District, East Side Union High School District, Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District, Milpitas Unified School District, San Jose Unified School District and Santa Clara Unified School District. Students attend CCOC for half of their school day and attend their home high school the other half of the day.

Eleven of the students who received scholarships applied through CCOC while seven other students applied through their home high school. CCOC’s scholarship winners come from 12 different high schools and represent 13 CCOC programs. An additional 14 students who won a Grove Scholarship take a CCOC ROP class at their home high school.

The Grove Foundation received close to 160 applications from eligible schools in the San Jose and Santa Cruz area. Out of that, 74 students were awarded scholarships Jaime Kemmer, program associate for the Grove Foundation, said.

While in college, Grove Scholars must maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA, take a full course load, attend Grove Scholars events and program offerings and continue their college career path. The scholarship is for up to $4,000 as determined by the student’s education plan.

CCOC Grove Scholars include Olivia Fields from Branham High School; Dalton Mead and Candy Moreno from Leland High School; Mario Mazzella and Eric McNeil from Santa Teresa High School; Nicole Walker from Saratoga High School; Karla Barron from Silver Creek High School; Randy Aguilera and Rene Lopez from Wilcox High School; and Ariella Newton from Westmont High School.

The Grove Foundation was founded in 1986 by former Intel Chairman and CEO Andy Grove and his wife Eva. The Groves founded the School-to-Career program in 1998 to give students an opportunity to achieve their focused career goal in careers such as automotive technicians, paralegals, nurses, accounting, and medical assisting. The scholarships are limited to students who will attend Cabrillo College, Evergreen Valley College or San Jose City College to earn their career-focused two-year associate’s degree or technical certificate.

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