November 5, 2004

ESUHSD NEWS BRIEFS

Valley Christian High School named Blue Ribbon School

Valley Christian High School students at rally

The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded Valley Christian High School its 2004 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Program Award. In qualifying for this award, Valley Christian students achieved scores in the top 10 percent of all high schools in the nation. Valley Christian is the first private high school in the state to be awarded this honor.

Chancellor Claude Fletcher was very proud of the award. “We have been very fortunate in achieving a good amount of public recognition for this school in many areas: sports, theater, dance studio, band and now it’s nice to have this concrete evidence that our academics are also of the highest quality possible in the nation.”

Reminder: Nov. 13-14 EVHS Craft Faire

The Evergreen Valley High School Athletic Booster Club will be holding its second annual Craft Faire on Saturday, Nov. 13 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the EVHS gymnasium at 3300 Quimby Rd. (cross-street is Ruby Avenue) in San Jose.

The faire is free, with plenty of parking, a variety of food, a children’s craft area, gift wrapping and lots of raffle prizes to be awarded on both days. Browse through the creations from a variety of crafters coming from all over the Bay Area. What better way to begin your holiday shopping?

Many who visited the Craft Faire last year raved about the large selection of items to choose from such as hand-crafted jewelry, quilts, hand-made sculptured glass and figurines, dolls, wooden toys, floral arrangements, Christmas ornaments, knitted and crocheted items and kitchen accessories. There will be food items such as homemade candy and cookies, seasoned oil and vinegar, salsa and olives and even women’s clothing made from silk to designer jackets, sweatshirts, T-shirts and much more.

There’s something for everyone at the Craft Faire, and the best part is that the proceeds from the booth rental, hourly raffles and concession stand directly benefit the EVHS athletic programs.

ESUHSD holds four budget public forums

In light of the disappointing loss of Measure K, the district’s parcel tax that was defeated on the Nov. 2 ballot, the East Side Union High School District will be holding four public forums to discuss the current status of the district budget and to receive input regarding current and future budget shortfall.

All interested parents and community members are encouraged to attend the meetings to hear about the budget status and share their ideas on what steps and budget reductions the district must make in order to bring fiscal stability to the organization. Community members may also use the district’s Web site, www.esuhsd.org, to provide input, suggestions and recommendations regarding the budget.

All Public forums will begin at 7 p.m. at the following sites and dates:

- Monday, Nov. 8, James Lick Library

- Tuesday, Nov. 9, Yerba Buena Auditorium

- Monday, Nov. 15, Silver Creek Library

- Tuesday, Nov. 16, Santa Teresa Auditorium

Meetings will also be held at each of the noted schools to seek employee input.

EVHS student attends

National Young Leaders State Conference provides
framework for California’s future

Anila Khan of Evergreen Valley High School recently participated in the National Young Leaders State Conference (NYLSC) in Sacramento. NYLSC is a leadership development program aimed at ninth grade students who distinguish themselves from their peers with leadership potential and a history of academic achievement.

The theme of the conference was Courageous Leadership, and Khan worked toward building a working “tool kit” of strategies to help successfully dream, create and implement plans that would change how she views her role as a leader in her communities.

Anila Khan

Through interactive exercises with the other participants, the students learned about these 10 power tools: goal setting, self confidence, effective listening skills, effective speaking skills, the content of character, team building, secrets of time management, stress management, the “can-do mind in a must-do world” and conflict deterrence and problem solving.

“I think it was a really good experience,” said Khan, who on her birthday this summer, received the letter from Washington letting her know she was among the finalists for the conference. “I learned a lot from the leadership activities that you could use in every day life.”

“The steps each person takes in discovering his or her own leadership strengths can be a very personal process,” said Mike Lasday, executive director of the Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC), the organization that sponsors NYLSC. “The National Young Leaders State Conference will help students like Anila Khan get at the heart of their innate talents and skills, and will also help them identify how best they can serve within their communities.”

Taking place in the state capitals of California, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Texas, the NYLSC curriculum focuses on an introspective and highly personalized assessment of each participant’s leadership skills and abilities.

“I’d like to attend a national [NYLSC] conference in Washington, D.C,” concluded Khan.

The Congressional Youth Leadership Council is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization. Founded in 1985, the Council is committed to fostering and inspiring young people to achieve their full leadership potential. For additional information, visit us at www.cylc.org.

Evergreen Valley’s homecoming week fires up school spirit

By Bea Baechle
Editor

Evergreen Valley High School’s weeklong homecoming activities Oct. 25 – 30 added some excitement to each day’s lunch time, culminating in a costume contest and rally on Friday, Oct. 29, where each grade, nine through twelve, performed a seven-minute skit complete with a dance and theatrical performance.

Junior Shavonne Horton won second place in the costume contest with her costume worn earlier in an Austin Powers-themed homecoming skit with Dr. Evil as the villain. Freshman Stephanie Tran shocks her with the prize she won. Photo by Anila Khan

In the homecoming competition between classes, students were judged on the quality of their skits, the class T-shirt that they designed, the section of the campus they were assigned to decorate and the stationary floats they created.

For the antithesis of last year’s superheroes theme, the students picked notorious villains as the focal point of their projects. The junior class won the competition with the highest combined score in each of those areas.

That night, the EVHS Cougar Varsity Football Team won their first Homecoming game, 54-14. The victory over San Jose High was a tremendous team effort. Defensively, the Cougars were led by Matt Pula, Joe Duran, Jay Archie and Justin Sagisi. Offensively, Javier Martinez scored FIVE touchdowns in 206 yards, Justin Sagisi had a 46-yard touchdown run and Steven Walraven connected with Larry Lacotti for a 42-yard TD Pass.

The homecoming dance “Villian’s Paradise” held in Cougar Hall completed the school’s first homecoming week with all four classes and crowned the school’s first senior students, Leo Prado and Priscilla Lopez, as homecoming king and queen.