2016-17 In Pictures

We are excited and so grateful to have had Joseph Alvarico join our staff this year and take over the yearbook program, and as you can see from the year update in pictures to follow- we are in for a fantastic Yearbook! All pictures are courtesy of the YV Yearbook and its staff, including Joseph Alvarico, Brooklyn Greene, Ruby Mendoza, and more...

This is what we like to call.. Catch up.

YV Hosts Middle School Leadership Development Day

Our award winning ASB Leadership class teamed up with CASL (California Association of Student Leaders) to provide a great development day experience with the help of Renaissance Leadership, for our local middle school student leaders. Students from Foothill, Pleasant Hill Middle, Pine Hollow, Valley View, Riverview, Oak Grove MS, Sequoia Middle, Martinez Junior High, and more came to play and learn together, with CASL's Brodie Kaster leading the way. 

The students had an amazing day, with our own outstanding leaders... It's a great time to be a Warrior.

Soccer looks to last games and playoffs
Boys and girls soccer have had great seasons respectively, and our regular season should be coming to a close soon. 
The girls are 8-7-1 going into their last game against Concord, and they are in the top 10 in Division III going into the playoffs. 
The boys are 14-2-2 going into their last game, and ranked #2 in the League, #1 in the Division. They have 3 of the top 5 goal scorers, and our goalies are ranked #1 and #2 respectively in the league for the lowest goals scored against percentages.  

Sports Medicine gets trained for Head Injury Evaluation
With all of the information coming out on head injuries, long term chronic trauma to the head leading to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, the ROP Sports Medicine class took to the road to get trained and informed on the latest news. This week the student trainers went to the field and practiced head injury protocols and testing methods, preparing for those "just in case" moments we all hope we won't come across. 

The NFL Honors Ygnacio Valley and its alums
For the 50th Super Bowl, the NFL has created a high school 'Honor Roll', a list of high schools who have graduated players who went on to play in the Super Bowl. There were 99 players in the Bay Area who were honored, 3 of which graduated from YVHS. (No other school in the district can claim this honor!) A plaque has been erected near Levi Stadium, and the school was sent commemorative Golden Footballs that are displayed proudly in the main office. Gordon Gravelle who played left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers and St Louis Rams, Rich Martini, wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders, and Dave Tollefson, defensive end for the New York Giants, were all honored for this event! 

Sports Medicine takes in a day with the Pros
On January 27th, the Seniors in Sports Medicine took in a full day of professional development, beginning with a private screening of the movie, 'Concussion.' Following the movie, Dr. Eric Freitag, an area neuropsychologist with a private practice in Shadelands came by to talk about the movie and current practices in concussion management, and his views on contact sports, especially in the younger athletes. Then the student athletic trainers went on to St Mary's College, where they were treated to the college sports medicine experience, courtesy of the Director of Sports Medicine, Dr. Tony Kearns. Dr. Kearns offered up an internship during the summer to the go-getter who takes the initiative to contact him- such a great opportunity for our Warriors to get more hands on experience! They then ventured to the new and under construction baseball stadium, where Coach Daniel Costanza discussed injuries in baseball and special considerations with overhand sports. 
It was a great day to be a Warrior! (and we love the Gaels!) 

Spring Musical gets Underway!
This year, the Warriors are putting together an exciting musical, 'Mary Poppins'! This show has never been produced in the Bay Area by a high school, and we are excited to bring this classic on stage. 
This play takes place in London, so to prepare for the dialect and accents, we brought in our own professional, Dorian Blagg. Mr. Blagg is in his first year as a special education teacher, and he has only lived in the United States for the past 10 years. Growing up, he was put into diction classes by his parents, as the class system in England is alive and well and even your accent can be an indicator as to your "station" in life. Mr. Blagg gave the cast a brief history and explanation of dialects, and the cast got that much closer to bringing the play to life! 

Performing Arts Take their Show on the Road

 Our performers went on tour this winter to our feeder schools, including Sequoia Middle (for the first time in years) to showcase our programs. The Giants were treated to the jazz ensemble, Dance 3, Madrigals and Advanced Guitar, and were able to talk with the Warriors about why they love YVHS. 
The Second half of the trip had the Warriors heading over to Woodside elementary to perform for the 4th and 5th graders there. 
Overall, we made a lot of great connections with what we hope are some great future Warriors! 

ASB Organizes a Campus Decoration Event- Deck the Halls! 
An annual tradition, ASB Leadership brought the clubs together and divided up the halls for them to conquer. Hall decorating had themes this year of classic holiday movies, and the clubs went to town to make the halls beautiful the last week before winter break. 

It is a favorite tradition amongst staff and students and the halls were transformed. If only for a day :) 

Interact Gathers Coats for the Winter- and Warriors responded! 
The Interact club worked hard this winter to organize a coat drive, putting a box in every teachers room, and creating a pizza party concert out of it- and Ms. Mumford's class won! 
So many coats (over 300) were collected in the drive, to help out our community and those in need. Way to go Interact! 

Senior Breakfast a great way to send off to Break! 
One of the most popular traditions for seniors is Senior Breakfast, an event where ASB plans to feed the senior class with the help of Iron Chef teachers :) The staff gather in the wee hours of morning to begin cooking the bacon and eggs, and the seniors arrive in their jammies and play games together. This year was no exception, and seniors went back to the old school roots, pulling together musical chairs games, thumbs up seven up, and jenga and monopoly, while still others sat down to play Madden or stood up to challenge each other in Wii's Just Dance. It was a great morning, that ended with staff serenading the seniors with "12 Days of Winter Break". 

Big thanks to Senior Class President Viviana Hermosillo and all of ASB and Ms. Stobing of course, for another great event!