December 3, 2004

ESUHSD NEWS BRIEFS

South San Jose school issues committee begins brainstorming

A new South San Jose “school issues committee” met Nov. 23 to brainstorm the educational issues that they would like tackle at the high school level.

Based on earlier meetings between District 2 Councilmember Forrest Williams, Paul Robichaux and other community members from the Silver Creek Valley Community Organization (SCVCO), the committee discussed improving the quality of education in a safe and certain environment, “rightsizing” the schools to reduce overcrowding and creating a more responsive school governance to concerns, in addition to others.

The group has a vision to ensure that the quality of the schools is high to foster community, attract people to the neighborhood and bring jobs to Edenvale.

Some of the possible solutions they are exploring include creating a charter high school, a new school district to encompass the southeastern part of Evergreen and the Coyote Valley or building a new high school within the East Side Union High School District.

In addition to Robichaux and Councilmember Williams, Evergreen residents in attendance were Cecil Lawson, Lou Kvitek and Sara Schmitt along with San Jose city employees, Evergreen’s District 8 Councilmember Dave Cortese, Kim Walesh of the Office of Economic Development, Laurel Prevetti of the City Planning Division, Ru Weerakoon of the Redevelopment Agency, Keith Stamps from the District 2 office and Kerynn Gianotti of the District 8 Office.

If you are interested in participating in this grassroots community committee, e-mail SCVCO’s High School Action Committee, HSAC@scvco.org or visit the SCVCO Web site: www.scvco.org.

Silver Creek High School’s homecoming celebration

The people of Oz, Silver Creek’s seniors, groove like they’ve never grooved before. Photo by Courtney Booth

Silver Creek’s homecoming celebration Oct. 22 – 23 took a different twist this year, due to the ban of the traditional Friday-night bonfire and pyrotechnics.

Despite the lack of a blazing fire, the primary attraction of the celebration on Oct. 22 prevailed as each class performed their movie-themed skits to a crowd of about 1,000 people.

Seniors chose a fantasy genre with “The Wizard of Oz,” juniors opted for a science fiction genre with “Back to the Future,” sophomores took an action theme with “Bond 007” and the freshmen embraced a tragedy theme with “Romeo and Juliet.” The senior class won the competition.

The homecoming football game on Saturday, Oct. 23, ended in a 13 – 20 loss for the Silver Creek varsity football team, which played Leland High School. Silver Creek’s junior varsity team, however, pulled off a win and beat Leland.

A D.J. and the live band “Shaboom” kept the homecoming dance moving, but what’s a homecoming dance without a senior king and queen? Gabe Pena and Stephanie Eckels filled those crowns perfectly.

Bobby Tang murder case still in beginning stages

By Mariecar Mendoza
Staff Writer

When 17-year-old Bobby Tang, a popular, good-natured student from Silver Creek, was found shot dead in a Honda sedan at Dove Hill Park on Oct. 23, Sergeant Steve Dixon of the San Jose Police Department called it a “classic ambush” that stemmed from an unknown dispute.

The next day, Huy Tran, 18, turned himself in, and a few days later, two other suspects—Narinder Singh, 18, and Joel Castillo, 19—were caught near Coalinga, Calif.

The three suspects appeared in San Jose’s Hall of Justice for the first time Oct. 27 on murder charges and appeared again Nov. 3 to enter pleas and identify their attorneys. According to Deputy District Attorney Kathy Wells, who is prosecuting the case, only Tran and Singh’s attorneys made appearances.

A continuance was then allowed for Castillo’s attorney to be identified, which happened Nov. 30, but pleas have still not been entered. A new court date is now set for Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. to enter pleas.

Wells said she hopes at that point all the information needed will be gathered so that they can move on to set a preliminary hearing date.

So far, according to both the San Jose Police Department and Wells, there are no new developments and any evidence at this point cannot be discussed with the public.