April 10, 2008

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

Los Alamitos holds Recycling Day

Los Alamitos Elementary School celebrated its 11th annual “Jan’s Cans” recycling day last Friday. Students hope to beat last year’s record of $5,300 raised with their efforts in recycling cans and bottles. Students above, from the left, are pictured spelling R-E-C-Y-C-L-E and include Katie Muraco, Stephanie Lorenzo, Alex Kaneko, Joey Dirck, Brianna Hamilton, Rianna Fitch and Marine Sauton with Kevin Wach and Caitlyn Weisner in the back row.

District attorney visits Graystone to assemble ID kits

On Tuesday, April 8, members of the District Attorney's office spent the morning at Graystone Elementary School offering child ID kits to students in grades three through five. They offered this service for kindergarten through second grade students last October.

The procedure includes taking non-ink fingerprints of the child and obtaining a DNA sample by placing a Q-tip swab in the child’s mouth and saving in a manila envelope. These items are put in a tri-fold and sent home with the child. Parents then can fill out the tri-fold with the identifying information for that child (height, weight, hair and eye color) as well as attach a small picture or school photo of the child. Parents are encouraged to update the photo every year.

Child ID kits are provided as a public service to the parents and none of the information is placed in any system or retained by the District Attorney’s office. Parents are instructed to keep the information in a safe but accessible location, such as where they keep birth certificates or school records, and have the information on hand to provide to the police in case of an emergency.

The District Attorney’s office has provided this service at many events, such as the Almaden Valley Art and Wine Festival, health fairs and other schools over the years.

City sponsors May 18 youth track meet

The city of San Jose and the San Jose Police Amateur Athletic foundation is sponsoring a free youth track meet on Sunday, May 18 at Evergreen Valley High School’s track, 3300 Quimby Road.

Track events are by age group—the meet is open to children born between 1994 and 1999--and there will be 50-, 100-, 200, 400-, 800-, 1600-meter races and a 4 by 100 relay. Field events, for all ages, include a standing long jump and a softball throw.

Registration for the meet will be held from 8 to 9:30 a.m. with the meet beginning at 10 a.m.

For more information and to pre-register, contact Steve Ryan at (408) 871-3825 or by e-mail at Steve.Ryan@sanjoseca.gov. Or contact Judi Baxter, track meet director at Judibax@sonic.net. There is also a Web site, www.hersheytrackandfield.com.

Head back to the Roman Empire

Pioneer High School’s performing arts students will present “A funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” on April 25, 26, 29 and May 1, 2 and 3 at the school’s performing arts center, 1290 Blossom Hill Road.

Tickets can be purchased at the door, at the Pioneer High School Web site or by calling Retta at (408) 268-5604. Ticket prices are $16 for adults and $7 for students and seniors over 62 years.

Almaden Rotary Speech Contest winners

The excitement was running high as the bell rang and the Rotary Club of Almaden Valley’s regular meeting came to order. This is the day that many of the Rotarians look forward to all year, as the annual Richard D. King Speech Contest was about to begin.

The contest is named after former Rotary International President Richard D. King, a prominent Bay Area attorney. King started the district wide contest in 1983 when he served as the district governor.

The contest allows high school students the opportunity to increase their personal knowledge and awareness of effective speaking; to increase public knowledge of Rotary and its involvement in the community and to provide the speaker the opportunity to earn monetary awards by advancing to the area, regional and district wide contest.

Each student is allowed to develop his or her own topic as long as they include the current Rotary theme of “Rotary Shares – Investing in the Future” and at least one element of the “Rotary Four Way Test,” which asks is it the truth, is it fair to all concerned, will it build goodwill and better friendships and will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Each of the six Leland students who were identified only by number, gave a stirring, emotional and informative speech. The students were Danielle Marinsik, Ryan Kuo, Teddy Troung, Melody Rasouli, Elizabeth Yee and Kairav Sinha. At the end of the contest, and while the judges were tabulating their votes, each student was introduced by name. The applause was loud and sustained.

Once the judges completed their task, the winners were announced. The third-place winner, receiving a $25 award, was Ryan Kuo, in second place was Kairav Sinha, who received a $50 award and the first-place winner of a $100 award was Melody Rasouli.

Rasouli’s speech centered on dreams and goals. She stressed how the “fear of failure” sometimes holds us back even though “we should learn to embrace it. Think of it this way. Every time we fail, we eliminate one way that won’t work. Let fear go, even the biggest failure beats the heck out of never trying.”

About goals, Rasouli told the story of George Dawson, who at 98 had the dream of learning to read. He not only conquered his fear of learning, he accomplished his goal and went on to write a best selling book at age 101. She concluded her speech, telling the Rotarians that “to get ahead and turn dreams into realities, the SMART process comes in pretty handy…The SMART process means creating Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-specific goals, SMART right?”

Rasouli joins last year’s winner Ryan Kuo, 2006 winner Divya Musinpally and 2005 winner Jackie Young as the Almaden club’s area contestant. The club winner will compete in the area contest, with that winner competing in a regional contest.

First- and second-place winners from the two regions will compete at the District contest on April 13 at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose. The winner of the District contest will receive a check from Gov. Dick Lohmiller for $1,000 bringing the total winnings to $1,550.

The Rotary Club of Almaden Valley is best know as the sponsor of the Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game, which features graduated high school seniors from Santa Clara County in a north and south game. The club also puts on a three-day “Kids Day Fishing” event each May at the Campbell Percolation Ponds. Its 37 members have been serving the Almaden Valley sense 1969.

Summer Theatre Conservatory program still has spaces

Along with warmer weather and backyard barbecues, summer is the time for California Theatre Center’s exciting and educational Summer Theatre Conservatory program.

Based in Sunnyvale, the California Theatre Center (CTC) has offered its hands-on theatre conservatories for ages 8 and up for nearly 30 years. CTC also offers 2-week-long, half-day, Junior Conservatories for ages 6-8. Registrations are currently being accepted at (408) 245-2979 or (408) 245-2978.

CTC’s Summer Conservatory is a three- or four-week-long intensive workshop for young people (must be age 8 by June 15), who are interested in developing and improving theatre skills. Conservatory students will work directly under the supervision of professional CTC company members to produce and act in their own productions, culminating in public performances at the end of their Conservatory session.

Conservatories are held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. four or five days a week (depending on whether it is a three- or four-week session) at a number of locations throughout the South Bay including Los Altos, San Jose, Saratoga, and Sunnyvale. In the morning, students attend workshops in which they explore topics such as improvisation, movement, acting and voice. Morning workshops are followed by a lunch break, and then by afternoon rehearsals and production sessions. Students learn the art of acting on stage from seasoned professionals, and enjoy the creative endeavor of designing sets, props, costumes, tickets and programs for the play.

A unique aspect of the program is that the students’ experience is enriched by watching their teachers perform in one or more of CTC’s popular Summer Repertory Plays at the Sunnyvale Community Center Theatre.

CTC Summer Theatre Conserva-tories offer an environment where students can flourish, grow, and make great friends. Its education programs are intended to provide a safe and structured outlet for children to focus their creative energy and thereby build self-esteem. Many Con-servatory students stay with the program for years, moving up through Inter-mediate and Advanced Conservatories and internships with the company.

In addition to the summer programs, CTC also offers theatre workshops for all throughout the school year including such topics as musical theatre, improvisation, and acting for the camera.

For more information about CTC Summer Conservatory dates and locations, visit www.ctcinc.org. To register your child, call (408) 245-2979 or (408) 245-2978.

The Bret Harte dance team, which won third place at nationals includes, top row from the left, Head Coach Tiffany Chambers, Michelle Crocker, Lauren Kim, Megan Pulling and Assistant Coach Eric Vo. In the next row down, from the left, are Laura Jacques, Erica Oh, Mackenzie Burt, Co-Captain, Alicia Yanez and Kaitlyn Hopkins. Delaram Mebrkish, Renee Crouzet-Pascal, Nina Derksen, Michelle Montrose and Michelle Lee are in the next row down and Co-Captain Michelle Walker is on the floor.
The cheer team includes, bottom row from the left, Ariana Salah, Becca Olson, Kristen Basu, Nicole Savino, Nina Derksen, Miriam Lapis and co-captain Sheri Jean. In the second row, from the left are Jennifer Kupneski, Hope Laurance, Sarah Khosla, Mackenzie Burt, Stephanie Clark, Aimee Choi, Tiffany Wong and Kaitlyn Craft. In the third row, from the left are, Head Coach Tiffany Chambers, Tanya Zadeh, Cody Dority, Melanie Tan, Samantha Stich, Monica Badowski, Kelsey Blackstone, Harley Jane Dority, and Assistant Coach Eric Vo. The top row consists of Clara Carleton, Alexa Cabrera, Sara Overstreet, Co-Captain Lauren Kim, Melissa Carl, Elle Lee, Min Ha Hong and Madeline Perretta

Bret Harte cheer, dance teams take third place

After 10 months of hard work under the director of coaches Tiffany Chambers and Eric Vo, of Bret Harte’s cheer and dance teams, the two teams finished their competitive season at U.S.A. Nationals in Southern California. Each earned third place national rankings.

The Hip Hop Dance team performed at the Anaheim Convention Center the weekend of Feb. 23 and competed against teams from around the country primarily from dance studios and all-star teams. Their competitors had grown up dancing together. By contrast, Bret Harte’s team, with captains Mackenzie Burt and Michelle Walker, have been together less than a year. Still the 14-member team’s performance earned them a third place ranking and brought home a school trophy and individual medals.

The cheer squad performed in the advanced division at California Adventure one week later on March 1. The girls cheered a flawless routine that also earned them a third-place trophy for Bret Harte and individual medals. The team, whose captains are Sheri Jean and Lauren Kim, has 31 members including sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Only three girls were members of both teams.

A fun cheer and dance clinic was held days later that served as a fundraiser for next season’s seed money and to share skills to help prepare interested participants for the upcoming tryouts for next year’s teams. Tryouts are scheduled for Friday, April 11 from 3:30 p.m. at Bret Harte. For more information, contact Tiffany Chambers at Brwni83@aol.com.

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