Students of the MONTH

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thankful to be WARRIORS

Football season ended last Saturday in the Warriors' loss to the Campolindo Cougars in Round 1 of the NCS playoffs. The Warriors ended a well played season and look forward to a long awaited rest! 



Renaissance Leadership kicked off an awareness week to honor all of the causes that October brings, including Breast Cancer Awareness month, Anti-Bullying campaigns, Red Ribbon Week, and National Service Day. Here, Warriors contributed their handprints to the banner and honored their loved ones battling breast cancer. 


Halloween brought out some creativity around the office and around campus, and the Warriors did not disappoint! 

Office staff ready for the day


Ygnacio Valley had the repeated great honor of hosting the local competition of the Special Olympics, with the fall event being soccer. Athletes from all over the county came to compete, and our own Warriors competed as well. Student volunteers worked hard to keep the day smooth, and teachers were able to bring their classes out for specatoring. 



YVHS students Jordan Fisher (ref) and Kevin Trujillo have a moment...


Tuesday, November 3, 2015

It's Getting Chilly- means Playoff time!

5pm at Ygnacio Valley HS
The season at hand means shorter days, colder mornings, and playoff season! Let's recap what has been happening to wind down October. 


VOLLEYBALL
Volleyball finishes strong with some great games against College Park, Concord, and some tough matchplay in the annual tournament we hosted this weekend, with games against Montgomery HS and more. 











CROSS COUNTRY
Cross country makes a great showing at DVAL's with Jorge Bernabe Velazquez winning the race at the varsity level, and Dylan Lynch earning a 7th place finish in the JV level. Best wishes to Cross country as they prepare to compete at the NCS championships! 


Angela Guzman goes up in a JV stunt 
CHEER
Cheer has ended the football season strong, with several halftime performances and a lot of work going in to being prepared for every game, proudly performing new cheers and dances for the crowds. Congrats and thank you to Devin Collins (JV Coach) and Ashley Alvarez (VA coach) for navigating a successful season! 





BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS Breaking down the Walls club, led by advisor Erica Huie, has started up again, with a focus on campus cohesion and a positive community- beginning with Welcome Wednesdays! The club meets in front of the school in the morning and greets cars and students as they enter the campus- what a great way to start our days! 













COLLEGE FAIR
For the third time, Ygnacio Valley hosts the All District College and Career Fair, with over 200 campuses represented to talk to students and give virtual tours of what they have to offer. Students from around the district flocked to the great event and got a better idea of how to narrow down their choices and make some big decisions in their senior year. Huge kudos and thanks to YV parent Ilana Samuels for organizing this incredible event! 


Donors Choose CEO Charles Best and YVHS STEM teacher Kelly Cooper





















DONORS CHOOSE
On October 19th, our very own Ms. Cooper was invited to join 49 other STEM teachers in the Bay Area to a special Donors Choose event at Levi Stadium. The organization invited 50 teachers in honor of Levi hosting the 50th Superbowl this February, and those teachers were treated to dinner, and a special gift from CEO Charles Best and Chevron Partners- fully funded STEM projects! Ms. Cooper was awarded with 10 Chromebooks to be used in the Sports Medicine class, and materials and supplies for student recognition to be used in Renaissance. 
Serendipity- Blue Devils Drumline Bassist Eren Aktari, performing at the Donors Choose event,
 happens to be a YVHS alum!

The very next day, Science Dept chair Ms. Arthur received funding on Donors choose as well, for science equipment including a Go Pro, refractometer, a laptop, and a ground water demonstration kit, all to be used in our Environmental and Earth Science courses. 
Congratulations to our teachers! 

HOMECOMING 

Homecoming week was a fantastic one, with theme days drawing out more participants than ever, and a rally for all to enjoy. 



Dance 3 in Bond Fashion


Homecoming game was a special treat for players and staff alike, as we prepared to play Mt. Diablo High School - Varsity players were asked to select a staff member to walk them out on the field, and ASB Coordinator Corissa Stobing facilitated making shirts for each staff member to have and keep with their players name and number on it. 

Super Bowl participants and YV alum Gordon Gravelle was on hand to present to our school the Golden NFL Super Bowl commemorative football, a gift from the NFL in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl. 

An auspicious beginning which served us well, as we went on to defeat the Red Devils! 
YV staff getting ready to walk out their Varsity football players




Homecoming Court- King Hodari Cooper, Grand Marshall Leo Rosilio and Queen April Stark
And of course Lawn Chair Friday with the staff

Royal Emperor and Empress- Mr. Vasarhely and Ms. Anaya!






Monday, October 19, 2015

A few more things....


Link Crew Reconvenes 
Our Link Crew, the student group of upperclassmen who are trained mentors for our freshman class, reconvened this month to prepare for the next two events, Trunk or Treat, and Academic Lessons in the classrooms. What a fun group of amazing teenagers! Look for the Trunk or Treat event on Friday October 30th! 



All District Choral Festival
Our hard working vocal music teachers all got together to rehearse and pull together a performance of a lifetime, with over 400 singers, here at Ygnacio Valley! College Park High School, Clayton Valley Charter, Concord High, Northgate, and Ygnacio all came together and made beautiful noises, under the direction of guest conductor Bret Peppo from Diablo Valley College. Such an amazing event! 





Cross Country takes a WIN
Our outstanding Cross Country team, under the direction of Mark Tran, has been ramping up their races each week, taking home their first win this past week against Northgate High School. The Warriors are getting faster and faster each week, so watch for this team as they aim to peak at the exact time they need to! Congrats Warriors! 


Education Academy takes the Field
Our Education Academy took some time out for what is important- building the team to be even stronger. They had student led activities designed to help them learn collaboration, cooperation and problem solving, and spent the day on the field working together. 
It was a great day, and thanks to our coordinators, Thatcher Palmer, Jim Lyon, Nicole Kipnis and Leslie Addiego as well as our affiliate teachers Gary Macaluso and more! 


Sunday, October 18, 2015

It's Starting to Cool Down... everywhere except here!

ASB and Renaissance Leadership Represent at Area A
Our leadership programs took a bus ride out to Woodland for the Area A Leadership student conference. Students attended workshops and got new ideas to bring back to the school, always working to make YV the best it can be... and they had a bit of fun too :) 


Football Season Continues
Football rolls on with Varsity taking a tough couple losses to Northgate and College Park, while the Frosh teams earns a W vs the Falcons, and our JV team remaining undefeated. 
The game has featured some other great highlights, including our outstanding Sports Medicine Team, led by Kelly Cooper, and a new intern from DVC, YV Grad Malena Martinez; Our Warrior Marching Band making very welcome appearances, led by Band Director Zach Pattison, and our Drum Major Claire Rader; and our award winning cheer team led by Ashley Alvarez in her 5th year. 





Sports Med Intern  YV Grad Malena Martinez



 
Claire Rader leading our Golden Warrior Marching Band


Guitar Class has their first Concert
Led by Geoff Carter, the guitar class put on a stellar recital for family and friends, playing pop hits with aplomb. Look for these musicians again at Carols by Candlelight this December! 

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Warrior Territory

Football continues the good fight
Our Warrior football team continued their pre-season, losing a couple of one point heartbreakers. Never letting up, the Warriors continue to work on the finer points of the game and getting ready for the regular season. Last week, the Warriors soundly defeated Skyline High School, with a final score of 60-26. The regular season starts this week when the Northgate Broncos come to this side of Oak Grove for a matchup. 

The JV team deserves a huge high five and kudos as well, as they have begun their preseason by being UNDEFEATED, also winning over Skyline this week. Congratulations to the players and head coach Roger Cabriales on their streak! (don't talk about a streak. No jinxing) 




Sports Medicine continuing care to our athletes


Freshman Tailgate with the Link Crew and ASP
The freshman class was invited to an outstanding tailgate event with our Link Crew Leaders, sponsored by our CARES After School Program, led up by Allyn Monzon. ASP provided grilled hot dogs and snacks and drinks for free to the freshmen, and then all were encouraged to support the frosh football team in their game against Antioch High School. Great time! 




Military Monday- in Dance Class
Our local Marine recruiting center took time to give the dancing Warriors some PT, under the direction of Staff Sergeant Ken Rick and PFC Hartman. The Warriors walked away inspired and very very sore. 







Senior Picnic
Seniors were treated to a day in the park for Senior Picnic, organized by Senior Class President Viviana Hermosillo and the ASB Leadership class. For the day, seniors were bused over to San Ramon, to the Little Hills Recreational Park, where they played soccer, volleyball, basketball, and ultimate frisbee, they rock-climbed, swam, and had contests for cannonballs. Lunch was served and some games were organized. It was a great day for all! 










Health Academy has a team building day
To create a more cohesive group, the Health Academy took their students to Tilden Park, fo a day of team building with facilitator Patrick Moore. Patrick took the students in groups and had them problem solve different issues together, and the students were forced to make decisions and be creative with solutions by working together across grade levels. It was a great day for these future health care workers, and a reminder that even in patient care, they will be working in teams. These life skills are vital to their success! 






















Cross Country has their first Meet
and they nailed it! Congratulations to our JV Cross country runners for winning their first meet this year, and a big congratulations to our Varsity runner, Jorge Bernabe Velazquez, who earned a third place finish at this meet. Look for big things from that one! 



 


Career Transitions Course Learns about Success

The Career Transitions classes have been learning all about Success and what success looks like to different people.  At the end of the unit they created their own definitions of success, which were posted all around the classroom to remind students WHY they should try their best! 





Health and Education Academies to Cal Shakes
Both of our outstanding academies enjoyed some Shakespeare in the park last week when they took in Cal Shakes production of King Lear. The dark tragedy was brought to life by this outrageously talented cast, and the students enjoyed seeing the language make sense through the interpretation presented. After the play, the actors came back on stage for a Q & A session, where students asked questions about rehearsal process, stage blood, the difference in their choices whether the show is at nighttime or a matinee, and more. What a great production! Don't miss it!