A Successful Business Partnership

Marcel Becker, General Manager of Trident Maritime Systems, discusses the need for skilled welders

San Diego is home to the largest and most capable shipbuilding and repair industry cluster on the West Coast. With such a strong demand for welders in San Diego and beyond, the Metal Masters Pathway at El Cajon Valley is enabling students to begin careers in the welding/metal fabrication industry while simultaneously preparing them for college-level metals programs.

Last week, the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce’s Business & Education Committee highlighted a vital business partnership between the welding program at El Cajon Valley High School and Trident Maritime Systems.

It featured a presentation from Marcel Becker, General Manager of Trident, who spoke about their mutually beneficial collaboration with the welding program at El Cajon Valley and how successful the curriculum was in preparing students for jobs in the shipbuilding and repair industry.

Annually, our students enrolled in Advanced Welding and Fabrication classes are tested and awarded with Welder Certifications from the American Welding Society. Certification by the American Welding Society is the international standard of welder certification and is the first step toward gaining employment in a welding career.

Marcel candidly began his remarks noting that he “didn’t go to Penn State,” he “went to the State Pen,” and through opportunity and job training, he has built a successful, rewarding and well-paying career.

His interest is two-fold: helping meet the industry demand and giving back to his community by increasing the opportunities available to our East County students.

El Cajon Valley Assistant Principal Nick Williams, spoke to the value of the partnership citing that welding students who graduate with the requisite skills are being offered entry-level welding jobs starting at $18 - $25 per hour.

I compliment Marcel Becker and the school site staff who are responsible for the success of this growing program.

11th Annual East County Young Men’s Leadership Conference

2016 Young Men's Leadership Conference Attendees

Mount Miguel High School hosted its 11th Annual East County Young Men’s Leadership Conference last Saturday, January 23. The theme was "Strive for Greatness: Invest in Your Success."

The conference brought together over 90 young men along with inspirational and successful professionals. Workshops and breakout sessions provided an innovative and engaging atmosphere for those in attendance. The goal was to motivate, support and encourage young men to effect positive change in their lives through self-empowerment and good decision-making.

Presenters included: Mr. Timothy Shaw, high school counselor and Lemon Grove School Board member; Dr. Mark Jeffers, English Department chair and founder of the Matador Early College program at Mount Miguel High School; members of the Student African American Brotherhood of San Diego State University; Dr. Jerome Payton, adjunct professor and Director of Curriculum and Training for Tactical Training Group Pacific; Damion Donaldson, College and Career Counselor at California State University San Bernardino; Anthony Haile, Jr., Certified Engineering Project Manager and community advocate; Jason Crawley, Youth Minister and Program Director at the Urban Youth Collaborative; Dustin Hollins, School Resource Officer; Johnathan Adlam, Green Energy Specialist, social justice advocate and youth sports coach; Lavar Watkins, Workforce Development Specialist; and Kristina Hereford-Watkins, educator, community activist and STEM specialist. The closing activity was a tie drive led by Michael D. Love, adjunct counselor at Southwestern College and San Diego City College. Every young man in attendance received a free necktie and instruction in how to tie it. Jerrod ‘Jay’ Arnold offered an inspiring musical performance after lunch.

Attendees receiving neckties with instruction on how to tie them

The keynote speaker was Sade Burrell, author, motivational speaker and community college counselor. Her remarks focused on the power of dedication, hard work and belief in self. Each young man in attendance received a copy of her book, "What Are You Reaching For?"

This conference is the result of collaboration of the Mount Miguel Brother 2 Brother (B2B) club and the Student African-American Brotherhood (SAAB) chapter of San Diego State University. SAAB/B2B is a national organization that encourages and supports young men to embrace the principles of accountability, proactive leadership, self-discipline and intellectual development.

GUHSD Honor Band & Orchestra to Perform on Saturday

The GUHSD Honor Band and Orchestra will perform on Saturday, January 30, at 7:00 p.m. at Helix Charter High School. The ticket booth opens at 6:00 p.m.

The Honor Band and Orchestra are comprised of talented high school musicians who have auditioned from throughout the District. We are fortunate to have guest conductors working with these students. Dr. Travis Cross will be conducting the Honor Band. He serves as the Associate Professor of Music and Department Vice Chair at UCLA. Michael Gerdes will conduct the Honor Orchestra. Mr. Gerdes is the Director of Orchestras at San Diego State University.

Please join us for an evening of wonderful music. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for high school students, and free for military, veterans, seniors and youth.

Save the Date: East County TechFest 2016 on 2/20

GUHSD is set to host the third annual East County TechFest on Saturday, February 20, from 8 a.m. - 12 p.m., at West Hills High School. Last year, more than 200 teachers gathered to learn about new strategies and tools. More information is available here.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

Students, faculty and community partners across the San Diego region will join others across the nation during the month of February to celebrate national Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month. It provides CTE programs across the country with an opportunity to demonstrate how CTE educates students to be college and career ready and prepares them for high-wage, high-demand career fields.

CTE in Action: Monte Vista Auto Students Take Home Gold

Monte Vista Auto Students Showcase their Awards

On January 30, Monte Vista CTE Auto teacher Mike Fleming, accompanied 22 automotive students to the Skills USA Regional Competition at San Bernardino Community College. The competitions, for both basic and advance categories, were very competitive and challenging. Every team competed at multiple stations and grading was comparable to common core. The basic competition consisted of a four-person team while the advanced competition was an individual event. Approximately 15 high schools competed in the competition.

In the four-person team competition, Monte Vista captured 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th places. The Gold Medal team consisted of Ashley Martinez, Angeles Hernandez Cruz, Jesus Mendoza Villasenor, and Miguel Castaneda Escobar. They were the only team to have two females. The Silver Medal team was Guillermo Sanchez, Jonathan Gonya, Keven Fletes, and Jeremiah Gaddie. All of these teams will advance to the state conference/competition at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, on March 31 – April 3, 2016.

Prudential Overall Supply Company provided uniforms for the students who competed. Entertainment during the day was provided by Bass Pro Shop. The students ended their whirlwind day with a celebratory ice cream party at Baskin Robbins.

Congratulations, Monarchs! Good luck in the pursuit of your next goal!

GUHSD Students Honored for Achievement in the Arts

Monte Vista Student Ian Navarro with his Winning Clay Art Sculptures

Monte Vista and El Capitan High School PTSAs both received entries for the National PTA Reflections program this year. The annual program encourages students of all ages and abilities to explore and be involved in the arts. Through the program, National PTA, Ninth District PTA, and PTAs across the country urge students in preschool through grade 12 to create and submit original works of art in the medium of their choice— dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual arts — reflecting on a specific theme.

There also is a special artist division option for students with disabilities to ensure that all students have the opportunity to participate in the program. Students are recognized each year for their artistic ingenuity to bring the theme to life in a way that is personal and meaningful.

This year’s theme was “Let your imagination fly.” Awards honor imagination, creativity and interpretation of the theme. The following GUHSD students have been honored by the El Capitan and Monte Vista High School PTSAs:

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE:

Ian Navarro - Grade 12, Monte Vista (Special Artist category)

AWARD OF MERIT:

Courtney Reiter - Photography - Grade 10, El Capitan

Cierra Ross - Photography- Grade 11, Monte Vista

HONORABLE MENTION:

Courtney Reiter - Photography, Grade 10, El Capitan

Maya Vallejo - Visual Arts, Grade 9, Monte Vista

Zachary Petrie - Visual Arts, Grade 11, Monte Vista

Julian Lorenzana - Visual Arts, Grade 12, Monte Vista

Desiree Rodriguez - Visual Arts, Grade 12, Monte Vista

Monte Vista High School student Ian Navarro received an Award of Excellence and his 3-D clay art entry will move to the California PTA state level of judging. The Award of Excellence, Award of Merit and Honorable Mention entries will be on display at the Ninth District PTA Reflections Showcase held at the County Office of Education on April 7 in the evening. Congratulations to ALL!

Important Information Regarding Confidential Student Data

A recent lawsuit against the California Department of Education (CDE) is impacting all school districts across the state, including Grossmont Union High School District.

In April 2012, two organizations, the Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and the Concerned Parent Association, filed a lawsuit against the CDE alleging widespread, systemic non-compliance by local education agencies with special education laws. The suit also alleges the CDE fails to monitor, investigate and correct such non-compliance in accordance with the law. The CDE denies these allegations and is actively defending the litigation.

Our district was not involved in the lawsuit and is not the subject of any of the suit’s allegations.

Nonetheless, as a part of this lawsuit, CDE has been ordered by the court to release all data it has collected on general and special education students since January 1, 2008.

For more information regarding the release of this data and how you can file an objection with the court to consider not releasing your data, visit this link. You may also contact the California Department of Education at 916-319-0800.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

The independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC) has issued its 2015 Annual Report to community.

It is publicly accessible via this link. It will be available in all school offices, county libraries within the district, and at CBOC and Governing Board meetings.

CBOC community volunteers met a total of 15 times last year. They reviewed all planned projects and expenditures, the district’s Deferred Maintenance program, and annual performance and financial audits completed by an independent auditor.

The CBOC annual report provides a comprehensive review of the CBOC’s role as well as challenges and accomplishments of the Prop H/U program. Included in the report is a review of the financial status, projects, and results of the latest audits.

We appreciate the work of these volunteers’ steadfast commitment to actively review and report on the proper expenditure of taxpayers’ money for school construction.

Third Public Hearing on Board Elections Moving to By-Trustee-Area Selection

The next opportunity for the public to provide oral input on the establishment of Trustee Areas will be held at a Special Meeting of the Governing Board on Thursday, February 25, 2016, at 4:00 p.m. The meeting venue is the East County Regional Education Center located at 924 East Main Street in El Cajon.

Following the third Public Hearing on February 25, the Governing Board will choose a trustee area plan to submit to the San Diego County Committee on School District Organization and will also vote to submit a General Waiver Request to the California Department of Education.

More information is available here.

El Cajon Valley Students Explore Health Occupations

An El Cajon Valley student learns to check a radial pulse

El Cajon Valley Health Pathway students benefited from learning hands-on skills from students and professors at our District's Health Occupations Center (HOC). Following a presentation from director, Mrs. Carol Otjens, students rotated through classrooms to tour each health-professions program offered at HOC.

The Health Pathway students were able to work directly with Medical Assistant students to practice taking a radial pulse and learned how to take a blood pressure from the Licensed Vocation Nursing class. Our students observed how to make medication in the Pharmacy Tech lab, learned how to take dental X-rays, and witnessed the Phlebotomy students practice capillary pricks on each other. This tour exposed students to post-secondary educational options in a health-related field.

2015 Fall All-Academic Football Team Captain for San Diego County and All-CIF San Diego Section Honored

Governing Board Recognition of Santana student Jake Kitten

Santana High School student-athlete Jake Kitten was recognized by the Governing Board for his selection as the 2015 Fall All-Academic Football Team Captain for San Diego County and All-CIF San Diego Section.

The 6-foot-2 Center also helped coach Santana’s JV offensive line this season. Coach Tim Estes said that in 15 years of coaching at Santana, Jake’s the best offensive lineman he has ever worked with. Jake maintains a 4.447 GPA, and envisions himself as a future math teacher and high school football coach.

He is considering several universities to study engineering or math. Jake volunteers his time at the Leo Club and beach clean-ups.

Laurie Tong Named Third Quarter Outstanding Classified Employee

Governing Board Recognition of Laurie Tong

At the Governing Board meeting on Thursday, February 11, Laurie Tong was recognized as the Third Quarter Outstanding Classified Employee of 2015-2016. Ms. Tong has served the Grossmont District as an Office Assistant in the Library/Media Services Department for over 20 years. She is recognized for her expertise and diligence in ensuring the smooth operation of the department, which provides multimedia and information resources across the District.

Classified employees provide critical support to our educational mission and programs. Congratulations, Laurie Tong, on being selected as the Third Quarter Outstanding Classified Employee of 2015-2016!

Mike Love Recognized for Continuing Success of Annual Young Men’s Leadership Conference

Mount Miguel teacher Mike Love is honored by the Governing Board. Joining him are teacher Thomas Gomes, two students and Principal Kimberlee Hedrick

Also at the Governing Board meeting on Thursday, February 11, Mount Miguel High School teacher Mike Love was recognized for his outstanding work on behalf of East County youth.

Annually, Mike Love spearheads the East County Young Men’s Leadership Conference at Mount Miguel High School. Last month, we celebrated the 11th year of inspiring, supporting and encouraging young men to effect positive change in their lives through self-empowerment and good decision-making. I complement Mike Love and his team on this important effort.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

Sparks Fly at Monte Vista Ribbon Cutting

Student Roxana Garcia cuts through metal ribbon with a plasma cutter

On Thursday, February 18, we hosted a ribbon cutting at Monte Vista High School to mark the completion of construction on three classroom buildings following a major renovation and modernization project to bring the outdated facilities up to modern standards and accommodate the district’s Career Technical Education (CTE) pathways.

In a unique twist on the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony, Monte Vista’s manufacturing technology students fabricated a special metal bow for the event, and senior Roxana Garcia cut through it with a plasma cutter. Funded by Proposition U, the $7.6 million project involved the renovation and modernization of the 700, 800 and 800A Buildings, totaling nearly 32,000 square feet.

Building features include:

700 Building – features an all-new kitchen, which supplies meals for the entire campus, and two classrooms for the school’s music programs
800 Building – includes new computer labs to support the school’s game design CTE pathway, new ASB facility, new student weight room, restrooms, office space and storage
800A Building – houses the auto and metals CTE programs

The building re-dedication ceremony was attended by school, community and district officials, including GUHSD Board Members Jim Kelly, Dr. Gary Woods and Jim Stieringer. Guests heard from students and teachers from the automotive and game design pathways. GUHSD business partner Ryan Ogden, owner of ASMAR Auto Care & Ed Hansen Muffler, spoke to the value of the auto program from an industry perspective.

Following the event, tours were provided as students demonstrated brake, tire and fluid maintenance operations, welding and fabrication.

The district’s CTE classes utilize higher levels of academic and applied skills in preparing students for college and careers, and all CTE teachers have California teaching credentials and industry experience. More information about our CTE program is available here.

ASB Presidents and GUHSD Schools Honored at Laurels for Leaders

GUHSD ASB Presidents at Laurels for Leaders 2016

On Wednesday, February 17, GUHSD principals, ASB Presidents and Advisors and District Administrators attended the 59th Annual San Diego County Laurels for Leaders Luncheon. The event honors San Diego County’s high school student body presidents. A Color Guard from Grossmont High School’s NJROTC program presented the colors at this year’s event.

School ASBs enhance campus life. They are concerned with the entirety of the high school experience and maximizing student activities and options while on campus. During the event, leadership awards were presented to high school ASB presidents.

I am very proud of our ASB students for their participation in the 7th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. High School ASB Food Drive Challenge. Granite Hills and Grossmont High Schools were recognized for finishing in second place and fourth place consecutively, for the number of cans donated for needy families. Their efforts, combined with other participating county schools will provide nutritious meals to San Diegans in need.

Granite Hills Students Have Their Day in Court

US Magistrate Judge David Bartick addressing Granite Hills students

On Friday, February 12, Granite Hills teachers Brenden Sexton and Gerald Lopez took 45 government students on a field trip to the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

The students had the opportunity to watch actual sentencing proceedings before the Honorable Janis Sammartino and the Honorable Dana Sabraw. Seeing the ramifications of smuggling drugs, weapons and people over the international border was an eye-opening experience for these young adults. Court observation was followed by a presentation on the criminal justice system hosted by the Honorable David Bartick, a former criminal defense attorney who now presides as United States Magistrate Judge.

Students had the opportunity to ask questions about Judge Bartick’s experiences both as a defense attorney and as a judge. Finally, the students participated in a mock trial presided over by the Honorable Karen Crawford in which they took on all the roles including witnesses, attorneys, judge and jury. Students acted out the scenario of a teen accused of manslaughter when he was involved in a car accident and evidence was presented that he was texting while driving. The day was a great opportunity for teachers to offer students a look at how what they are learning in the classroom relates to the real world. Other teachers interested in participating in a similar field trip may contact Community Outreach Programs coordinator Kathleen Walford.

IB Diploma Student Earns Top Award

Granite Hills student Dana Bakke with her mom, Principal Fowler and teachers Joni Mah and Matt Davis

Granite Hills High School senior Dana Bakke was awarded the inaugural Garry Prather Memorial Scholarship from the California Association of World Schools (CAWS), a network of International Baccalaureate (IB) schools throughout California. Her IB Coordinator Matt Davis nominated Dana for this highly competitive $11,000 scholarship due to her perfect academic record. This award recognizes her as being the top academic IB Diploma Program student for the Southern California region.

In addition to her academics, Dana has contributed greatly to the Granite Hills community as an editor on the school newspaper, co-captain of her academic league team, and as a leader in several service clubs on campus. She is greatly respected by her peers, not only for her intellect, but also for her willingness to help them succeed. Joni Mah, her current English teacher, said Dana “possesses maturity, insights and ability far beyond her years” and “in 23 years of teaching, she is one of the very best students I’ve ever had the privilege to teach.”

Congratulations, Dana!

Third Public Hearing on Board Elections Moving to By-Trustee-Area Selection

Following the third public hearing on February 25, the Governing Board will choose a trustee area plan to submit to the San Diego County Committee on School District Organization (SDCCSDO) and will also vote to submit a General Waiver Request to the California Department of Education.

More information is available here.

Community Forum on Next Superintendent Selection

The Executive Search Firm of Dave Long & Associates is assisting the Grossmont Union High School District Board of Education in selecting its next superintendent of schools. Wishing to have the greatest field of qualified candidates from which to choose, the Board has decided to conduct a high-profile search. Its members have also directed the search firm to meet with members of the staff, community and other interested parties in order to obtain input about the qualities, traits, experience, and other criteria that will describe the ideal candidate for the position.

A Community Forum will be held on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, at 6:00 p.m., in the Main Conference Room at the District Office, located at 1100 Murray Drive in El Cajon, to gather input from parents, community members and staff.

Once expectations for the traits of the best superintendent match have been identified, the search firm will begin an active and aggressive recruitment process that will conclude with the selection of several candidates who meet the Board’s criteria. Following reference checking, interviews, selection of a finalist, community visitations by the Board to the finalist’s current community and district, and successful negotiation of a contract of employment, the Board will take action to hire the new superintendent. Current plans call for the superintendent to be named prior to my departure in July.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING CONFIDENTIAL STUDENT DATA

A recent lawsuit against the California Department of Education (CDE) is impacting all school districts across the state, including Grossmont Union High School District.

In April 2012, two organizations, the Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and the Concerned Parent Association, filed a lawsuit against the CDE alleging widespread, systemic noncompliance by local education agencies with special education laws. The suit also alleges the CDE fails to monitor, investigate and correct such noncompliance in accordance with the law. The CDE denies these allegations and is actively defending the litigation.

As part of the litigation discovery process, the plaintiffs have requested numerous documents as well as student data collected and stored by the CDE. Many of the requested documents and data stored in the CDE databases contain personally identifiable information (PII) of children, including children with disabilities, children who requested an assessment or who were assessed for special education eligibility, and children who are attending or who have attended a California school at any time since January 1, 2008. Although the CDE has contested the production of such information, the court at this juncture has ordered the CDE to produce to plaintiffs’ legal counsel documents and data that contain student PII. Included in the court’s order to produce documents and data is a Protective Order prohibiting the plaintiffs and their legal counsel from disclosing confidential information acquired in the course of the lawsuit, including PII, to anyone other than the parties, their attorneys and consultants, and the court. None of this information may be used outside the context of this lawsuit; no student’s identifying records will be disclosed to the public.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) sets out the requirements for the protection of privacy of parents and students, including privacy of student records. Generally, parents and/or students must provide written consent before an educational agency may disclose PII. However, there are exceptions to this general rule. Specifically, an educational agency must provide PII when ordered by a court, which the CDE has been ordered to do in this litigation. The CDE is obligated to inform the parent or student that the court has ordered it to produce documents and/or data that includes those individuals’ PII and that such persons may object directly to the court regarding this disclosure.

A copy of the court order along with the form wherein parents can object and opt out of sharing their student information is online at the CDE website here. The form must be submitted by April 1.

Annual PTA Founders Day Celebration

GUHSD Officials and PTSA Representatives at the Founders Day Brunch

On Tuesday, February 23, I joined school administrators, principals, teachers, school board members, superintendents and Parent Teacher Association (PTA) leaders from across San Diego County to celebrate the founding of the PTA and its rich history of accomplishment.

This year’s Ninth District PTA Annual Meeting/Founders Day Celebration Brunch was held at the Scottish Rite Center. Several of our local PTSA presidents were in attendance including Foothills Secondary Council PTA President Lisa Stewart. We deeply appreciate our local PTSA leadership and its service on behalf of our youth.

The Founder’s Day event underscores the dedication and commitment that the members of our school PTAs offer. Parent involvement and presence makes a positive difference at our high schools.

If you are not a member of your school’s PTSA, I encourage you to get involved. Membership forms are located in your school office and on your school or PTSA website. Please join today.

El Cajon Valley Invites Public to Grand Re-Opening of Museum on Saturday

Museum Memorabilia on Display at El Cajon Valley

The public is invited to a grand re-opening of El Cajon Valley High School’s museum on Saturday, February 27, 2016, from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. The new museum features memorabilia and highlights school events dating back to its inception in 1955. Please join us and learn more about El Cajon Valley’s rich history as the third school in the Grossmont Union High School District.

Save the Date: Grossmont College Open House on 3/5

Grossmont College is hosting an Open House on Saturday, March 5, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Grossmont College is located at 8800 Grossmont College Drive in El Cajon.

Attend this event to learn about:

· Financial Aid and other Student Services

· Short-term training, certificate and degree programs

· Transferring to a four-year college or university

· Student leadership and extracurricular opportunities

Students will also be able to apply that day, speak with a counselor, tour the campus and more. To RSVP, visit this link. The first 100 GUHSD students to register will receive a free lunch. For questions, please email lorena.ruggero@gcccd.edu.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

This year GUHSD’s Career Technical Education (CTE) program has expanded by leaps and bounds. With 40 pathways and 55 CTE courses representing 13 industry sectors districtwide, CTE has offerings for every student. CTE is not only providing rigorous academic and technical skills, but is also preparing students for further education and the workplace.

This work-based learning program offers industry tours, guest speakers, industry advisors, job shadows, community service, and student participation in regional and national competitions. Additionally, industry level certifications, meeting A-G requirements at UC/CSU, and articulation credit is available through GCCCD. Check out CTE at cte.guhsd.net and click here to view our recent accomplishments.

GUHSD Students Attend San Diego Hospitality Student Conference

El Cajon Valley Students Dressed for Success at the Hospitality Student Conference

On Thursday, February 18, El Cajon Valley and Mount Miguel High Schools were among 11 schools countywide participating in the Hospitality Student Conference. The conference was held downtown at Golden Hall. Students also toured the Omni Hotel and Donovan's Steakhouse to learn about the booming career opportunities in the hospitality sector in San Diego. The event also included insights from guest speakers Sam the Cooking Guy, as well as GUHSD’s CTE Work-Based Learning Specialist, Jeff Wood.

Students spent the day experiencing a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to be successful in the fast-growing hospitality industry. Throughout the day, students also visited with industry professionals to learn about the challenges of their profession and the growing demand for the unique skills associated with the hospitality industry. Our students from El Cajon Valley and Mount Miguel came away with a perspective few high school students experience.

GUHSD Pre-Veterinary Students Visit Health Occupations Center

Pre-Vet Students at GUHSD's Health Occupations Center

More than 20 pre-veterinary Health Careers Pathway students from across the district joined the Veterinarian Assistant class at GUHSD’s Health Occupations Center (HOC) on February 18 to learn from practicing veterinarian, Dr. Ortega. Students learned about college programs in vet and animal science, gained insight about the field and were exposed to the many careers available in this industry.

Students and their families asked questions of practitioners in the field, teachers and current vet assistant students related to the field of vet science. HOC Director Carol Otjens, a former animal trainer at the San Diego Zoo and registered vet tech, was also present to share her unique perspective.

Santana Teacher Jason Kay Named CTE Gold Apple Winner

Santana Teacher Jason Kay with Students

Santana teacher Jason Kay was selected as the 2016 CTE Golden Apple award winner for his leadership with the CTE engineering courses. Mr. Kay's dedication to his students, positive approach to teaching, and his innovative lessons have helped make the pathway an important part of student success at Santana High School.

He teaches two levels of engineering including Introduction to Design and Principles of Engineering. In these classes, students work both with computer-aided design platforms and hands-on tools to design and engineer projects. From concept to design to production, students engage in the kind of learning that blends skills from other subjects in a seamless and meaningful way. It takes a special kind of teacher to make this pathway accessible to students, and Jason Kay uses his special talents every day to bring rigorous and relevant education to our District.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

GUHSD School Board Elections Update

At a Special Board meeting on February 25, the Governing Board of the Grossmont Union High School District adopted Map Option #1, as the next step toward changing the trustee election process from an at large system to the establishment of trustee areas. This responds to the changing demographics of East County and reduces our legal exposure.

The Governing Board also voted unanimously to seek a waiver from the California Department of Education of the formal requirement that the change of a school district’s electoral system be submitted to the voters for approval before it may be implemented. The election requirement, if not waived, would prevent GUHSD from implementing new trustee areas for November 2016, thereby subjecting the District to the very litigation we seek to avoid by making these changes. The State Board has granted hundreds of waivers of this requirement over the past few years for this very reason.

The San Diego County Committee on School District Organization will now consider the GUHSD plan, including Map Option #1, after conducting Public Hearings in four locations throughout our District. Hearings will be held at 6:00 p.m. on March 17 (La Mesa/Spring Valley School District Board Room); March 28 (East County Regional Education Center - GUHSD Board Room); April 5 (Jamul Intermediate School Library) & April 11 (Lakeside Union School District - Administration Center). The hearing notice with more detailed information is available here.

Additional information regarding this ongoing process (including Map Option #1) is available on the GUHSD website here.

Mount Miguel JROTC Instructor Receives Leadership Award

First Sergeant Brian Bennett Receives Ashford Leadership Award

At the Governing Board meeting last night, Mount Miguel High School’s JROTC Color Guard presented the colors. Following a presentation of school highlights by Principal Dr. Kimberlee Hedrick, JROTC Instructor First Sergeant Brian Bennett was presented with the Ashford Leadership Award for his service to the program. He was nominated for the award by me and was presented with a $1,000 check from Jim Bernet of the San Diego Army Advisory Council.

Annual Academic League Spaghetti Dinner

Santana High School Captures Varsity Academic League Championship

Helix Charter High School hosted the 2016 Annual Academic League Awards Dinner on Monday, March 7. The evening included an awards banquet and meal for nearly 300 players and their parents.

The dinner event was held to honor and thank the students, parents, organizers and moderators, as well as the coaches of the Academic League program.

Santana High School’s Varsity and JV teams both completed undefeated seasons, winning their respective League Championships.

Coaching recognitions went to Valhalla’s Lisa Collins for her years of extraordinary service. Santana’s Brooke Crocker and Becky Short shared Coach of the Year honors.

Special thanks are extended to Helix Charter for hosting the event, which was enjoyed by so many students and their families that evening.

GUHSD Staff Represented at Educating for Careers Conference

Educating for Careers Conference

GUHSD was well represented at the annual statewide Educating for Careers Conference in Sacramento earlier this week. Superintendent Ralf Swenson joined 54 GUHSD teachers and administrators from eight sites, including a team from Adult Education. GUHSD teams had the opportunity to connect with 2,500 educators, presenters and professionals to share best practices in Career Technical Education, college and career readiness, and Linked Learning.

Participation was funded through a combination of Carl Perkins grant monies and private funding. The conference included dozens of high-quality breakout sessions covering topics including: Assessment & Accountability, California Partnership Academies Model, Career Pathways Development, Curriculum & Instructional Strategies, Employer & Community Partnerships, Mentor & Internship Programs, Marketing Activities, and Work-Based Learning Opportunities for Students.

The event conference highlights came from keynote speakers Dr. Eric Mazur and teacher Fredi Lajvardi. Dr. Mazur is an internationally recognized Professor of Applied Physics at Harvard University, and Fredi Lajvardi is the inspiration behind the documentary Underwater Dreams and the feature film, Spare Parts. Both films focus on Fredi's work with a group of at-risk students as they competed against top universities in the area of underwater robotics.

After CTE, Adult Education, Special Education, administrators and academic teachers participated in a variety of workshops, they then came together as a GUHSD team to share insights and discuss next steps for promoting college and career readiness for all students. The major concepts discussed by those at the conference included the use of digital portfolios, how to better market CTE pathways at school sites and in the community, and how to ensure students are truly college ready and career focused. Teams were energized to bring back specific ideas and innovations as CTE pathways continue to gain momentum districtwide.

With major funding increases for CTE from the California Department of Education, and a growing demand for college and career-ready students, the Educating for Career Conference was a unique opportunity for GUHSD teams to connect, collaborate and challenge themselves to meet the diverse needs of students today and be prepared for the changing needs of the GUHSD students of tomorrow.

Dave Langston Named Fourth Quarter Outstanding Classified Employee

Dave Langston Honored as 4th Quarter Outstanding Classified Employee

At the Governing Board meeting on Thursday, March 10, Dave Langston was recognized as the Fourth Quarter Outstanding Classified Employee of 2015-2016. Dave has served the Grossmont District as a Swimming Pool Technician for over 34 years. He is recognized for his expertise in repairing and maintaining the District's pools, troubleshooting mechanical problems and mentoring new technicians.

Classified employees provide critical support to our educational mission and programs. Congratulations, Dave Langston, on being selected as the Fourth Quarter Outstanding Classified Employee of 2015-2016!

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

I begin this issue by wishing you a safe and relaxing Spring Break as we commence our annual week-long spring recess. As a reminder, Spring Break is from March 21 through March 25, 2016, with school resuming on Monday, March 28.

During this time away, it is my hope that our students, staff and families will enjoy some well-deserved rest, relaxation, and quality time spent with loved ones.

Ethics in Business Conference 2016

El Cajon Police Officer Louie Michael facilitates a discussion with students about the importance of ethics and character

The San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce and the Grossmont Union High School District presented the annual Ethics in Business Conference for 160 advanced CTE students from seven district schools on Tuesday, March 15, at Cuyamaca College. The annual event’s goal is to train the next generation to become principled leaders. The half-day conference challenged students to consider ideas and situations that are designed to help them think critically about ethics in business situations.

The award-winning Ethics in Business Program, which is presented by the Chamber’s Business Education Committee, was developed in 1992 to educate our high school seniors about situations and ethical dilemmas that occur in the workplace. Back by popular demand was keynote speaker Jeff Bramstedt, former US Navy Seal and film/commercial stuntman. He discussed the value and importance of ethics and how individuals can make a difference. Many San Diego East County Chamber members participated in the program by facilitating table discussions with groups of high school students.

I thank our many business partners who served as facilitators and the Ethics in Business subcommittee members who planned the event for our students: Cindie Wolf, Steve Devan, Teri Sprecco, Jeff Wood, Eric Lund, Rosemary Reed, Linda Hoffman and Debbie George.

Special thanks are extended to the following event sponsors: Foothills Christian Church, San Diego Gas & Electric, Sharp Grossmont Hospital, Grossmont Cuyamaca Community College District, Subaru/Mazda of El Cajon, COX Communications, DSD Business Systems, Leidos, East County Schools Federal Credit Union, Junior Achievement, First Citizens Bank, New Cars, Inc., Aflac (Becky Burgstiner, Agent), El Cajon Rotary Club (Erik Lundy) and GUHSD’s CTE Department.

Granite Hills Celebrates Academic Success

Granite Hills honors the Top Ten scholars of the senior class

Granite Hills High School held its annual Academic Hall of Fame gathering on Friday, March 11. The Academic Hall of Fame was established to recognize current students for high academic achievement and honor Granite Hills’ alumni who have gone on to make significant contributions in their chosen field.

Since its inception in 2004, Granite Hills has inducted 19 alumni into their Academic Hall of Fame. The august group includes individuals who have furthered their education at UCSD, SDSU, the Naval War College, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Harvard, and Brown and secured careers as lawyers, corporate leaders, mechanical engineers, physicians, surgeons, and this year, Granite’s first rocket scientist.

The 2016 inductees are Dr. Jenna Sopfe (Class of 2005) Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant Physician in Denver, CO, and Dr. William Nollett (Class of 2004), Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Engineering, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO.

Dr. Nollett was present for the ceremony. He shared fond memories from his time at Granite Hills, spoke to his advanced education and proffered advice to the current crop of budding young scholars.

After paying tribute to these two accomplished individuals, a Top Ten Celebration recognized the top performers in each class.

Monte Vista Cosmetology Pathway students visit Paul Mitchell The School San Diego

Monte Vista Cosmetology Pathway students learn from the professionals at Paul Mitchell

On March 8, Monte Vista High School Cosmetology Pathway students and teachers Angie Trujillo and Michelle Munoz attended Paul Mitchell The School San Diego’s international open house event. Students toured the campus and visited booths where they met with staff, teachers, students and salon owners who are prospective future employers.

The professional booths had many examples of work-based experience of working with the community and using the soft skills needed to work in the Cosmetology field. The information conveyed by the professional development team included working with salons, spas, and hotels that offer the salon experience and how to become a community leader in the process. Students benefited by receiving information that will assist them in making choices in their future education.

GUHSD School Board Elections Hearings

The Governing Board of the Grossmont Union High School District is taking steps toward changing the trustee election process from an at large system to the establishment of trustee areas. This responds to the changing demographics of East County and reduces our legal exposure.

The San Diego County Committee on School District Organization continues to hold Public Hearings on this topic throughout our District. Future hearings will be held at 6:00 p.m. on March 28 (East County Regional Education Center - GUHSD Board Room); April 4 (Joan MacQueen Middle School); April 5 (Jamul Intermediate School Library) & April 11 (Lakeside Union School District - Administration Center).

The hearing notice and additional information regarding this process is available on the GUHSD website at: https://goo.gl/WVfKrX.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

San Diego County School Board Association’s 14th Annual “Honoring our Own” Awards

Gary Schwartzwald & Dan McDowell honored as Administrators of the Year

Lisa Stewart honored as Parent Volunteer of the Year

On Friday, March 18, GUHSD was prominently featured at the San Diego County School Board Association’s 14th Annual “Honoring our Own” Awards Dinner at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel. The Valhalla Orchestra performed at the ceremony and the beautiful floral centerpieces for the tables were created by the IDEA Center High School’s Floral Design class.

One of ACSA Region 18’s priorities is to ensure that school leaders are recognized for their excellence. Through the annual San Diego County School Boards Association (SDCSBA) and ACSA Region 18 “Honoring Our Own” Awards Dinner, they honor school board members, administrators, staff, parents, college professors, and community members for their achievements and dedication to public education. Many of their honorees have gone on to be recognized at the State and National levels.

GUHSD had three award recipients:

Lisa Stewart, Parent Volunteer of the Year

Dan McDowell, Technology Administrator of the Year

Gary Schwartzwald, Career Technical Administrator of the Year

Please join me in congratulating each of them on attaining this high honor. We deeply appreciate their commitments to our schools and the field of education.

Foothills Adult Student Proves You’re Never too Old to Learn

Jose Vargas with Principal Meredith and teachers Daria Conyers and Jeremiah Stewart

Jose Vargas was born in Bananera, Guatemala, in 1946. He attended the local school until he was in the sixth grade. In 1965 his family immigrated to the United States, first to New Jersey and then to Massachusetts. Jose worked in shipyards on the East Coast for many years. With the opportunity to move to San Diego, he took a job with Mattel toys in Tijuana, Mexico, and crossed the border each day to his home in Bonita. Jose spent 15 years working for the toy company.

Over the past two years Jose has been in a GUHSD program to earn his High School Equivalency through Foothills Adult School. Pictured above is Jose along with two of his teachers: Daria Conyers and Jeremiah Stewart along with Principal Jeff Meredith.

Every day, students from all walks of life earn their High School Equivalency Certificate by passing the HiSET exam. What makes Jose Vargas special is that he accomplished this at the age of 70, proving that you’re never too old to learn or pursue your educational goals. Congratulations, Jose!

2016 All-CIF Winter Sports Stars Honored

Helix Charter's Trence Gillem, Destiny Lyng & D'Rell Gist with their awards

More than 350 student-athletes, coaches and parents celebrated the 2016 Winter All-CIF Awards Night at the San Diego Hall of Champions on March 23.

Student-athletes from eight winter sports who earned All-CIF first or second team honors were presented with the coveted Breitbard Certificate. This is named after the founder of the Hall of Champions, the late Bob Breitbard, who began the certificate program more than 60 years ago.

Of the nearly 100 athletes who were honored, eight were selected as Athletes of the Year in their respective sport. State Champion Trence Gillem of Helix Charter was selected as the top boys wrestler.

Congratulations to the following GUHSD students-athletes for their respective 2016 All-CIF Winter Sports designations noted below:

ALL-CIF BOYS BASKETBALL

First Team:

Tommy Rutherford, Grossmont, Senior

Second Team:

Bryce Parsons, West Hills, Senior

ALL-CIF GIRLS BASKETBALL

First Team:

Satera Bates, Mount Miguel, Junior

Second Team:

Destini Anderson, Mount Miguel, Junior

ALL-CIF BOYS SOCCER

First Team:

Richard Flores, Granite Hills, Senior

Jacob Odenkirk, Santana, Senior

ALL-CIF GIRLS SOCCER

First Team:

Alaina Melanson, West Hills, Senior

Savanna Nager, Steele Canyon, Senior

Second Team:

Claire Watkins, Helix Charter, Junior

Cameron Douma, Valhalla, Senior

ALL-CIF BOYS WRESTLING

First Team:

Trence Gillem, Helix Charter, Senior

Second Team:

D’Rell Gist, Helix Charter, Senior

Athlete of the Year: Trence Gillem, Helix Charter

Coach of the Year: Adam Krzywicki, Helix Charter

ALL-CIF GIRLS WRESTLING

First Team:

Destiny Lyng, Helix Charter, Senior

Second Team:

Maria Valencia, Steele Canyon, Senior

Winter 2016 CIF San Diego Section All Academic Teams & Cymer Scholars Named

Cymer and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) San Diego Section have announced the top-achieving winter athletic teams from each of five regions in the San Diego Section.

The CIF All Academic Teams honor the school teams in each sport and region with the highest, combined, weighted grade point averages. From each of those teams, Cymer honors the individual junior or senior with the highest, cumulative, weighted high school grade point average, and those students are known as Cymer Scholars.

East Region winners from GUHSD include:

Girls Soccer – Valhalla, 3.61 Team GPA

Cymer Scholar: Kara Whitaker, 4.56 GPA

Girls Water Polo – Granite Hills, 3.40 Team GPA

Cymer Scholar: Sidney Hollinger, 4.66 GPA

Boys Wrestling – Grossmont, 3.13 Team GPA

Cymer Scholar: Benjamin Slater, 4.20 GPA

Congratulations to these outstanding students on their athletic and academic achievements!

UPCOMING EVENTS …

Ninth District PTA Reflections Gala on 4/7

The annual Ninth District PTA Reflections Gala will be held on Thursday, April 7, 2016, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., at the San Diego County Office of Education (Rooms 401-402), 6401 Linda Vista Road in San Diego. The event is free and open to the public.

The Reflections Gala is a great way for parents and students to be inspired by nearly 200 entries that received Award of Excellence, Award of Merit or Honorable Mention status at the Ninth District PTA round of judging.

The art entries of seven GUHSD students will be featured: Courtney Reiter (El Capitan), Cierra Ross, Zachary Petrie, Julian Lorenzana, Desiree Rodriguez, and Ian Navarro, all from Monte Vista. Ian Navarro received an Award of Excellence for his entry that will advance to the California State PTA level. Congratulations to all on their entries.

GUHSD School Board Election Hearings Continue

The San Diego County Committee on School District Organization continues to hold Public Hearings on this topic throughout our District. Future hearings will be held at 6:00 p.m. on April 4 (Joan MacQueen Middle School Gymnasium); April 5 (Jamul Intermediate School Library); April 6 (Lemon Grove Library Community Room) and April 11 (Lakeside Union School District - Administration Center).

The hearing notice and additional information regarding this process is available on the GUHSD website at https://goo.gl/WVfKrX.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

Santana Robotics Team Earns Top Regional Honor

Santana Robotics Team Wins 2016 Las Vegas Regional

The Sultan Robotics team competed in the 2016 FIRST Robotics Competition at the Las Vegas Convention Center from March 31 to April 3. The game was called First Stronghold, and students had six weeks to build a robot for the event.

On Friday, April 1, the team won the Imagery Award, in honor of Jack Kamen, for his dedication to art and illustration and his devotion to FIRST. This award celebrates attractiveness in engineering and outstanding visual esthetic integration of machine and team appearance.

The next day, the Santana team left the competition as the Las Vegas Regional Winners! Congratulations to the team on their first place finish. We are proud of their hard work, dedication and the team comradery demonstrated in front of the judges and the FIRST community.

El Capitan FFA Wins Regional Awards

El Capitan FFA Students Showcase Awards

The annual Southern Region FFA Awards event was held at Sonora High School in La Habra on Saturday, March 19.

Top honors recognizing outstanding student achievement went to:

Ag Mechanics Design and Fabrication

Dustin Suttles, region winner and state finalist

Ag Mechanics Repair and Maintenance, Placement

Tanner Pies, region winner

Agriscience Research Animal Systems

Tatiana Woliung, region winner and state finalist

Agriscience Research Plant Systems

Blake Jackson, region winner and state finalist

Agriscience Research Integrated Systems

Tyler Mellott, region winner and state finalist

Diversified Agricultural Production

Anne Signore, section winner

Equine Science Entrepreneurship

Tera Galea, section winner

Forage Production

Jacob Nichols, section winner

Landscape Management

Robert Fryhling, section winner

Outdoor Recreation

Aaron McCranie, region winner and state finalist

Poultry Production

Tatiana Woliung, region winner and state finalist

Small Animal Production & Care

Garrett Rebarchek, section winner

Swine Production, Placement

Elizabeth Garcia, section winner

Southern Region Star in Agriscience

Tyler Mellott, region winner

Southern Region Star Administrators

Joe Cota, bronze

Lynelle Nicholson, bronze

Dave Watkins, bronze

Laura Whitaker, gold

Southern Region Star Support Staff

Michele Storton, bronze

Southern Region Star Counselors

Joe Herman, bronze

Stephanie Picon, silver

Frank Quinones, bronze

Congratulations, El Capitan FFA students and staff on these outstanding accomplishments.

El Capitan was also notified from state FFA that the school’s FFA Chapter is a finalist for the National Chapter Award. There are six schools from the state of California that will be interviewing for this award on April 24. Best wishes El Capitan FFA in the pursuit of this national award!

El Cajon Valley Hosts SkillsUSA 2016 Competition

A Student Welder Competes at El Cajon Valley High School

On Saturday, April 2, El Cajon Valley High School hosted SkillsUSA. High school teams competed in a fabrication tournament building sand diggers. Individual welders – both high school and college - competed in a skill competition in four different welding processes. All students were assessed by American Welding Society certified welding inspectors.

El Cajon Valley welding students acted as hosts. They organized, provided and cut materials for the welding competition, set up the equipment, served as guides and replaced gas cylinders as they ran out.

Teachers Ashley Wolters and Ryan Sawyer oversaw guest school comfort, helping competitors set up our welding equipment, positioning tables and heavy shop equipment, and provided instruction to visiting students and teachers on proper use of El Cajon Valley High’s equipment.

It was a rewarding experience for all involved. Several attendees remarked on what an extraordinary welding facility El Cajon Valley High School has as well as the beauty of the campus.

Hearings on Establishment of Trustee Areas Continue

The San Diego County Committee on School District Organization continues to hold Public Hearings on this topic throughout our District. The next hearing will be held at 6:00 p.m. on April 11 (Lakeside Union School District - Administration Center).

Workshop & Scholarship Opportunity for High School Students:

Apply for Summer Journalism Workshop

The San Diego Union-Tribune Community Journalism Scholars Program is accepting applications for its summer program for high school students interested in learning about journalism and media careers. During the five-week program, up to ten high school students will receive instruction and work in the Union-Tribune’s new downtown offices as paid community journalists. The program is underwritten by San Diego Gas & Electric. The application deadline is April 15. Applications and more information are available here.

Cal Coast Cares Foundation Offers Scholarships

California Coast Credit Union will award $15,000 in scholarships to college-bound high school seniors in 2016. The James L. McPheters California Coast Credit Union High School Scholarship Program will provide two scholarships for $2,500 each and 10 scholarships for $1,000 each to 12 college-bound high school seniors in San Diego County and/or Riverside County. Scholarship applications must be received or postmarked by April 11. Applications are available here. To be eligible, a graduating high school senior must be a member of California Coast Credit Union, or have a parent, grandparent, or guardian of a member; have a minimum 3.0 grade point average; and have been accepted by or plan to attend an accredited college or university full-time. Click here for more information or call (858) 636-4233 or (858) 636-4229.

El Cajon Valley Hosts Faculty Follies this Friday/Saturday

El Cajon Valley is hosting its 34th annual show to raise money for scholarships. Tickets are $5.00 at the door, and showtime is at 7:00 p.m. tonight and tomorrow.

SAVE THE DATE: Girls Empowerment Conference on 4/16

On Saturday, April 16, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Mount Miguel High School will host its 10th Annual Girl’s Empowerment Conference in the gymnasium. The theme for this historic event is, "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny," a topic that will be addressed by many of our speakers. The keynote speaker will be Geena the Latina from Channel 93.3. The conference is free to all in attendance.

For reservations or questions, please contact Sylvia Sposato at (619) 667-6451.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

2016 – 2017 Teacher of the Year Recognition Ceremony

GUHSD 2016-17 Teachers of the Year

At the Governing Board meeting on April 14, we recognized the Teacher of the Year nominees from each of our schools. This is a great honor, as each nominee was selected by their peers.

School site nominees are interviewed by a panel comprised of previous Teachers of the Year and District personnel. The panel selects two representatives from this distinguished group to recommend to our Board of Trustees for consideration for the San Diego County Teacher of the Year competition. If selected to represent the County, the next step is the California Teacher of the Year Competition.

These GUHSD teachers are representative of the quality of our educators. I am pleased to present to you the GUHSD 2016-2017 Teachers of the Year:

El Cajon Valley High School ~ Anthony Devine

El Capitan High School ~ Abigail Anders

Granite Hills High School ~ Carrie Gaeir

Grossmont High School ~ Megan Long

Monte Vista High School ~ Travis Engstrand

Valhalla High School ~ Christa Glavas

West Hills High School ~ Jamie Gwyn

Alternative Education/Chaparral High School ~ Matt Farley

Idea Center High School ~ Todd Meyers

And our two 2016 - 2017 GUHSD Teachers of the Year who advance to compete at the County level for San Diego County Teacher of the Year:

Dr. Mark Jeffers and Brooke Crocker, GUHSD Teachers of the Year, who advance to the County Competition

Brooke Crocker – Representing Santana High School

Ms. Crocker is a History Teacher who began teaching at Santana in 1994. She is very involved at Santana as AP/GATE Coordinator, US History PLC Leader, and Varsity Academic League Coach. She received the Varsity Academic League Coach of the Year award seven times and was a Golden Apple Award winner in 2007.

Ms. Crocker realizes education is powerful and that being an educator is a gift. She is a well-respected teacher by her peers and the students at Santana. A senior student had this to say about her Ms. Crocker, “She is supportive, compassionate, and extremely hardworking. It’s obvious how much she cares for her students and how dedicated she is in helping them achieve success.” A colleague noted, “I have come to know her as one of the most dedicated and talented educators with whom I have ever worked.”

Dr. Mark Jeffers – Representing Mount Miguel High School

Dr. Jeffers is an English Teacher, who began teaching at Mount Miguel in 2004. He is very involved in the life of Mount Miguel as English Language Arts Department Chair, Academic Board of Directors, Matador Early College Coordinator/Facilitator, and East County Education Alliance – English Council Co-Chair.

Dr. Jeffers founded the Matador Early College program at Mount Miguel at the start of his career as a teacher and has since grown the program to a position of being the highest-quality academic program on campus. He led a team in the development and implementation of a school-wide research and writing program. Those efforts have led to 82% of Mount Miguel’s students scoring near, at, or above standard in both writing and research this past school year, scores that exceed those of many traditionally higher-performing schools. Perhaps Mount Miguel Principal Dr. Kimberlee Hedrick said it best, “He’s not just our Teacher of the Year, he is the ambassador of all things great at Mount Miguel.”

Please join me in congratulating Brooke Crocker and Mark Jeffers, as well as our other inspirational Teachers of the Year! We are very proud to have these fine teachers represent their school sites and our district as our 2016-2017 Teachers of the Year.

Grossmont NJROTC Hosts Annual Military Inspection

Grossmont NJROTC Cadets Participate in Annual Military Inspection

Grossmont High School’s NJROTC unit conducted their annual military inspection on Thursday, April 7, 2016. The inspection, which requires a thorough review of all internal unit procedures as well as a detailed inspection of each cadet was conducted by Lieutenant Danielle Redmond, USN of HSC-70 Helicopter Squadron based on North Island.

Lieutenant Redmond, a former High School NJROTC Commanding Officer, inspected the entire unit, was the reviewing officer for the cadets’ parades, and heard the cadets staff briefing before departing. Lieutenant Redmond met with cadets and spoke about setting and achieving their career goals. Her review of the unit will be forwarded to the Commanding Officer of Naval Service Training Command. The cadets were rated as excellent/outstanding by the Lieutenant.

El Cajon Valley Students Conduct Brain Surgery

El Cajon Valley students dissecting a sheep brain

El Cajon Valley teacher Lynette Smith's Physiology students had the opportunity to test their skills and knowledge this week when they dissected a sheep brain. Working in teams, these El Cajon Valley Health Pathway students applied their learning from their current Nervous System unit by identifying brain structures such as the corpus callosum, pituitary gland and medulla oblongata.

Many Health Pathway students list "Neurosurgeon" as one of their possible career objectives, so having the opportunity to participate in these types of hands-on experiences in high school gives these young people a head start on their futures.

GUHSD Students Attend Pre-Professional Health Conference

GUHSD Health Pathway Students Attend SDSU Health Conference

Nearly four dozen Health Pathway students representing all six health careers pathways in Grossmont Union High School District attended the 11th annual Catch the Wave to Success Pre-Professional Health Conference at San Diego State University last month. The annual event was hosted by SDSU's Pre-Professional Health Office.

The day began with inspiring keynote speaker Dr. Connie Mariano, the first military woman to become the White House Physician and the first female Director of the White House Medical Unit. She motivated the group to follow their passions and grow from their mistakes. Students and Health Pathway teachers Penny McDowell, Corrie Biggerstaff and Brendan Casey then ventured out into intensive workshops where they learned about career pathways in medicine, stem cell and cancer research, as well as college and military options from doctors, dentists, veterinarians, pharmacists, nurses, chiropractors, and researchers.

Some students attended a breakout session where they practiced suturing. Following lunch, Dr. Kristian Brown, provided insight about the life of a transplant surgeon. The day wrapped up with a campus tour and a graduate school and volunteer fair where Health Pathway students were able to practice their soft skills and learn about volunteer and community service opportunities related to health and medicine.

SDCOE Unanimously Approves Trustee Areas for GUHSD

On April 13, the San Diego County Board of Education, acting as the San Diego County Committee on School District Organization (CCSDO), unanimously adopted the resolution approving the implementation of by-trustee-area elections for the Governing Board of the Grossmont Union High School District.

On February 25, the GUHSD Board of Trustees adopted Map Option #1 and also voted to seek a waiver from the California Department of Education as outlined above. As the next steps in the process, the By-Trustee Area Election Plan and GUHSD Adopted Map were submitted to CCSDO and the waiver was submitted to the State Department of Education for separate consideration by each body.

The CCSDO conducted six duly-noticed Public Hearings throughout the GUHSD boundaries to gather public input regarding the proposed change in election process and the GUHSD adopted Trustee Area Map. Hearings were held in La Mesa, El Cajon, Alpine, Lemon Grove, Jamul and Lakeside, and on April 13 the CCSDO approved of the plan for Grossmont to move to By-Trustee Area elections as well as the GUHSD adopted Map.

The State Board of Education will act on the waiver at its regular meeting on May 11 and 12. Upon approval of the waiver, the Registrar of Voters will begin the process of establishing the GUHSD trustee areas and the new By-Trustee-Area election process will be effective with the November 2016 GUHSD Governing Board election.

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In closing, I share with you a number of board recognitions which showcase the athletic achievements of our talented students:

2016 CIF-SDS Girls Varsity Basketball Division IV Champions, Grossmont High School

2016 CIF-SDS Girls Varsity Soccer Division II Champions, Valhalla High School

2016 CIF-SDS Girls Varsity Soccer Division III Champions, Helix Charter High School

2016 State CIF Wrestling Champion Trence Gillem, Helix Charter High School

Grossmont Healthcare District Awards Scholarships to GUHSD Healthcare Scholars

Grossmont Healthcare District Board with Healthcare Scholarship Recipients

The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD), a public agency that supports various health-related community programs and services in San Diego’s East County region, recently awarded $81,000 in scholarships to 24 GUHSD high school students who have expressed interest in a career as a healthcare professional. The scholarships were presented at the GHD board meeting on Friday, April 15.

Students were selected by school administrators for their academic excellence, outstanding citizenship and a desire to improve our world in the healthcare field. Two students from each high school will receive either a $3,000 or $1,500 check from GHD at the end of their first semester of college, contingent on completing at least nine units with a grade point average of 2.0 or better.

“We applaud these specially selected students who have demonstrated great potential in leading the next generation and shaping the future of healthcare,” said Board President Robert “Bob” Ayres. “We are proud to invest in America’s youth and encourage these young adults as they continue their studies in the healthcare field. We look forward to their future success through college and beyond.”

GUHSD Scholarship Recipients Include:

El Cajon Valley: Lenda Lawrence, Maryam Shaoo

El Capitan: Vivian Maldonado, Ahtziri Gallegos-Enriquez

Granite Hills: Andy Yousif, Kaylie Hildebrand

Grossmont: Jazmin Morales, Halee Scott

Grossmont Middle College: Nancy Tomka, Sara Froomin

Helix Charter: Diondraya Taylor, Jessica Irvine

Monte Vista: Jolissa Manuel, Bethany Mudge

Mount Miguel: Brandol Camacho Frasco, Francis Evangelista

Santana: Michael Chase, Catelyn Renna, Santana

Steele Canyon: Allison Hall, Alexander Rodriguez

Valhalla: Salam Allahwerdy, Regina Mansour

West Hills: Savannah Fakhouri, Dakota Betz

GHD has honored more than 500 local high school students interested in a healthcare career with scholarship grants since 1999. Over the years, hundreds of local high school students have received individual scholarships totaling more than $1 million.

GUHSD Celebrates Successful Completion of Proposition H

Food Services Staff Created a Special Prop. H Cake for the Celebration

At the Governing Board meeting on Thursday, April 14, we officially celebrated the completion of Proposition H, a $274 million bond approved by voters in 2004 to fund repairs of aging schools, improve student safety and security, build new science classrooms and improve ADA compliance throughout the district.

Superintendent Swenson delivered a presentation sharing Proposition H project highlights, thanking the CBOC members past and present, and the voters for their investment in the future of education in East County.

Click here to view the presentation; click here to access the program brochure.

Proposition H was approved by 62 percent of voters in March 2004 to fund repairs of aging schools in the district. It was the first bond passed by voters in the East County in 37 years. The $274 million program included student safety improvements, upgrades and expansion of technology and other infrastructures, renovations of outdated classrooms, the construction of new science classrooms, district-wide ADA upgrades and extensive infrastructure upgrades.

Grossmont Middle College High Students Recognized

Grossmont Middle College English Teacher Christine Bisera-Morales with Student Winners

Grossmont Middle College High School students were recognized for a local literary contest put on by Write Out Loud, an organization located here in San Diego. The students were asked to read a work by Robert Louis Stevenson and then to re-imagine and recreate that novel and its themes in a creative format.

They read Jekyll and Hyde and then the students submitted their projects. On Monday, April 18, at the Old Town Theatre many of the students were recognized for their efforts.

Our students received awards, including cash prizes, in the categories of Visual/Media Arts, Literary Work, and Performing Arts. The students’ projects included creative writing, dance, film, photography, and painting. The top three winners in each of these categories also received cash awards.

Mount Miguel Girls' Empowerment Conference a Huge Success

Conference Attendees Listen to Keynote Speaker Geena the Latina

On Saturday, April 16, Mount Miguel High School hosted its 10th Annual Girls' Empowerment Conference in the gymnasium. The theme for the event was, "Hardships Often Prepare Ordinary People for an Extraordinary Destiny," a topic that was addressed by many of the speakers, including the keynote, Geena the Latina from Channel 93.3.

The guest speakers shared their experiences with the girls and spoke to them about the importance of believing in themselves, their talents, and abilities. It was an incredibly powerful conference with break-out sessions for the girls, giving them the opportunity to share and to learn from each other. In addition, many of our girls came back with information about post-secondary opportunities and even door prizes. Deep appreciation is extended to Sylvia Sposato who has been the driving force and the inspiration for this conference over the past decade.

CTE Hosts Annual District Advisory Committee Meeting

Participants attend the CTE District Advisory Committee Meeting

The Grossmont Union High School District Career Technical Education Department hosted the annual CTE District Advisory Meeting on Thursday, April 7, at Grossmont College. The goal was to obtain input on moving forward with our CTE Strategic Plan to better prepare students to be college and career ready. Over 70 participants attended, representing 11 Industry Sectors. CTE students at each table presented one of their CTE projects and shared their challenges and successes as they learned the skills needed to complete the project.

The conversations and input at each table represented views from students, parents, teachers, community college partners, workforce development partners, and district and site administrators. Using an interactive digital survey tool, participants shared their ideas and input on a variety of topics providing over 500 feedback entries which will be used for the continued improvement of our CTE programs and services.

If you are interested in learning more about our CTE pathways and how you can become involved, please visit our website at cte.guhsd.net.

Save the Date: Online Safety Presentation on 4/26

GUHSD is proud to announce its partnership with State Senator Joel Anderson in hosting a presentation about online safety provided by Facebook on April 26, at 6:00 p.m., at West Hills High School.

The presentation will empower parents to be active participants in their children’s online experiences in order to help keep them safe. The presentation from Facebook will also explain the many tools available to members of the Facebook community to report harassment, inappropriate content, and other forms of cyberbullying.

Click here for the event flyer and to RSVP online. You may also call 619-596-3136.

Announcement: Parent-at-Large Vacancy on CBOC

The Grossmont Union High School District is seeking applications to fill a vacancy within the eleven-member Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC). The CBOC oversees the implementation of Proposition U, the $417 million general obligation bond measure passed in November 2008, to bring facility improvements and renovations to the Districts’ schools.

The appointee will serve a two-year term beginning June 2016 in the capacity of “Parent-at-Large” and will be eligible for up to two additional two-year terms, with the condition that the appointee have a child or children continuously enrolled in a District school for all term periods.

Click here to view the application.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

Monte Vista High Prepares 40,000 Packaged Meals to Alleviate Global Hunger

Monte Vista Students Packaging Meals for Stop Hunger Now

On Monday, April 25, Monte Vista High School’s gymnasium was transformed into a bustling, music-filled venue as more than 200 students and staff members worked with “Stop Hunger Now” to package 40,000 meals for needy children in developing countries. The community service event was hosted by the school and nearby Foothills United Methodist Church.

At 6:30 a.m., a semi-truck delivered raw ingredients and supplies to the school. Working in teams on an assembly line, volunteers combined rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and a packet containing 23 essential vitamins and minerals into small meal packages. Each meal package only costs 29 cents to make and has a shelf-life of two years. After an intense two hours, all 40,000 meal packages were assembled, boxed and ready for shipment. Meals will be distributed to feeding programs that promote education, improve health, nutrition and aid in crisis relief.

Monte Vista High School has a tradition of giving and community service. Events like this are incredible learning opportunities for our students. It opened their eyes to issues affecting other students in the world and shows them their small actions have a large impact. For more information on “Stop Hunger Now” go to stophungernow.org.

El Cajon Valley Welding Students Earn Certifications

Student Norman Naeem Receives his Certification from AWS District Director Sam Lindsay

On Wednesday, April 13, 38 Advanced Welding and Fabrication students from El Cajon Valley High School’s CTE welding program were presented with 64 Welder Certifications from the American Welding Society. The American Welding Society (AWS) is the international standard bearer for welding governance, inspection and training. Students who have earned AWS certification are now qualified to work in a multitude of industries around the world in high demand/high paying welding fields.

Students were presented with their certifications from Jeff Davis, Chairman of the San Diego section of AWS as well as Sam Lindsay, District Director for the Southwest and Hawaii. A representative from State Senator Joel Anderson’s office presented each student with a certificate recognizing their accomplishment.

Welding teacher, Ashley Wolters, spoke about the program's partnerships with local industries including shipbuilding, fabrication and construction. The welding program continues its pattern of developing strong industry partnerships with local businesses such as Trident Marine, GKN Aerospace, Weldmac, QCMI, NASSCO and BAE. Welding students who graduate with the requisite skills and certifications are being offered entry-level welding careers starting at $18-$30 per hour.

Following the presentation, families were served refreshments. I compliment these students for their dedication in achieving competent welding results and teachers Ashley Wolters and Ryan Sawyer for the success of this growing program.

Grossmont NJROTC Marksmanship Team Becomes a National Contender

Members of the Grossmont High NJROTC Marksmanship Team

Grossmont High School’s NJROTC Marksmanship Team fired in 14 rifle matches this school year, the most ambitious season in the team’s history. The team achieved several milestones including the first 1000+ 3 X 10 match, the first 2000+ 3 X 20 match, the highest finish ever in the Area 11 Championship, the first ever trip to the Western Regional Championships in Utah, and the first ever Individual Match Champions. Both Anah Rosas and Khaing Than were individual match champions this season. Cadet Rosas won the Area 11 Qualifier in Phoenix Arizona, and Cadet Than won the Hollywood Match at Reseda High School.

The team has grown from five members in 2015, to 22 members this season. The final match of the season will be the Junior Olympic Qualifier at Orange Glen High School in Escondido. If they win that match, they will travel to Camp Perry, Ohio, for the national matches.

Helix Water District’s 14th Annual High School Photo Contest

First Place Color Winner Maytham Ali with Teacher Matt Rabasco (El Cajon Valley)

Helix Water District awarded cash and prizes to winners of its annual high school photo contest. Eleven students’ work was honored with first, second and third places in color and black & white categories, as well as Best-in-Show.

Winners:

Best-in-Show: Tanner Bingham, El Capitan

First Place Color: Maytham Ali, El Cajon Valley

First Place B&W: Josey Oliver, El Capitan

Second Place Color: Jessie Luetticke, El Capitan

Second Place B&W: Frans Shamasha, El Cajon Valley

Third Place Color: Andrew Kana, El Cajon Valley

Third Place B&W: Somaya Noori, El Cajon Valley

Honorable Mention Color: Jill Johnson, Grossmont

Honorable Mention Color: Jonas Carrillo, El Cajon Valley

Honorable Mention B&W: Jennifer Rodulfo, El Cajon Valley

Honorable Mention B&W: Saver Mikha, El Cajon Valley

Students received $250 for best in show, $200 for first place, $100 for second place, and $50 for third place. All winners received a certificate, ribbon and flash drive.

Celebrating its 14th year, the competition was created to bring awareness to water issues in East County.

All high schools within the Helix service area are eligible to participate. This year, 88 photos were submitted from four high schools: El Cajon Valley, El Capitan, Grossmont and Santana.

The winning photographs as well as several additional entries are on at the water district’s administration building lobby at 7811 University Ave., in La Mesa. You may view the slide show by clicking here.

GUHSD-CTE Hosts Conference Tour

Touring Teacher Kathy Worley's Manufacturing and Design Class (West Hills)

On Wednesday, April 20, West Hills, Grossmont and Santana provided CTE-focused tours to visiting teachers from the Association of Career Technical Education (ACTE) Region 5 Conference. Thirty-eight teachers represented programs from California, Oregon, Arizona, Idaho and South Dakota.

The first stop was a visit to Grossmont High School with a tour of Jordan Lehr's transportation/auto shop facility, Carolyn Jungman's digital arts class and Chris Ray's sports medicine program.

The next stop was to West Hills High School. Kathy Worley featured her junior manufacturing and design class, followed by Susan Cooper's photography class.

The final stop, at Santana High School, highlighted Jackie Beckham's manufacturing students and facilities, as well as Jason Kay's engineering program. Donna Small’s culinary students provided a wonderful lunch featuring chicken enchiladas and stuffed chilies.

Many of the visiting teachers were in the early stages of pathway planning and Linked Learning development and stated that our teachers and programs provided great models and valuable insight. Overall, the ACTE teachers were impressed with the variety and depth of the programs GUHSD-CTE has to offer.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

Judge Rules in Favor of GUHSD on Alpine Lawsuit

After a thorough review of the evidence, Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman’s finding is that the Grossmont District wins on all counts, and the $42 million preliminary injunction will be dissolved.

This is a win for the students, teachers and the taxpayers of East County, as our Governing Board can now resume their efforts to see that taxpayers’ dollars are put back to work for the benefits of our schools and the students that we serve.

All students at all schools in our district should have classrooms and facilities that meet the current educational needs of those students and that ensure their safety. That is what we have always focused on with both Proposition H and Proposition U – and that is what we will continue to do now that this lawsuit has been dismissed.

There is much work to be done, and our students have waited long enough.

2015-2016 Golden Apple Awards & Retirement Ceremony

Members of the GUHSD Governing Board with a few Golden Apple Recipients

The 31st Annual Golden Apple Awards & Retirement Ceremony was held on Monday, May 2, in the Bob Guess Theater for the Performing Arts at West Hills High School in Santee. The Golden Apple Awards event recognizes outstanding teachers selected by the student body in each of the District’s high schools and other educational programs.

The Governing Board and the students of the Grossmont District, through their respective ASBs, host the evening in honor of those teachers who were selected as the 2015 – 2016 honorees at their schools.

The 2015-2016 Golden Apple Award recipients include:

Chaparral: McKenzie Zauderer

El Cajon Valley: Melissa Drake

El Capitan: Jay Tweet

Granite Hills: Alexandra Grant

Grossmont: Tom Eklund

Helix Charter: Brett McKinney

IDEA Center: Lucas Olivares

Monte Vista: Marisa Alvarado

Mount Miguel: Luis Montes

Santana: Michele Farres

Steele Canyon: Jessica Bianco

Valhalla: Shoshana Adams

West Hills: Todd Peterson

Adult Education: Calvette Hart (HOC)

Career/Technical Education: Jason Kay

Special Education: Cathy Coffin (West Hills)

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George Yousif Named Classified Employee of the Year

We also recognized four classified employees who were selected on the basis of their outstanding service throughout the year:

First Quarter: Jason “Willie” Van, Special Education Aide

Second Quarter: George Yousif, Bilingual Arabic Liaison

Third Quarter: Laurie Tong, Office Assistant

Fourth Quarter: Dave Langston, Swimming Pool Maintenance Technician

George Yousif was further honored as he was selected as Classified Employee of the Year for the Grossmont District.

In addition, we rounded out the evening by honoring district employees who have retired during the 2015 – 2016 school year. Click here to view the event program, including the list of retirees. We thank them for their service to our youth and wish them much happiness in this next stage of their lives.

One of the highlights of my job is having the opportunity to recognize these outstanding teachers, classified employees, and retirees who are working hard to ensure that the student experience in GUHSD is positive.

I thank the following community partners and organizations whose generous donations helped make this annual event possible: Boyd Anderson Photography; Fagen, Friedman & Fulfrost LLP; Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo; and Artiano Shinoff. I also recognize the following District services for their assistance with this event: GUHSD ASB organizations, CTE Floral Design Program, Food Services, Media Services, West Hills Strings & Guitar and West Hills High School.

Champion of Champions Event Celebrates CTE Pathway Students

Monte Vista Auto Teacher Mike Fleming with Champion student Erik Palomares

The 34th Annual Career Technical Education Champion of Champions Event was held on Friday, April 29, at Cuyamaca College. The event began with a student showcase that included construction items from IDEA Center, Todd Myers, teacher; Information and Communications Technology from Monte Vista, Todd Teetzel, teacher; Agriculture from El Capitan, Don Dyer, teacher; Arts, Media, and Entertainment was represented by Valhalla, Mike Skocko, teacher and Granite Hills, Karl Danielson, teacher; Sports Medicine from Granite Hills, Esteban Monge, teacher; Education from Grossmont, Lou Ann Kirby, teacher; and Manufacturing from El Cajon Valley, Ashley Wolters/Ryan Sawyer, teachers.

Flowers were furnished by the students from the Floral Design class at IDEA Center under the expert guidance of Brenda Davis-Landini. Culinary delights were prepared by the Culinary Arts classes at IDEA Center, Laureen Botticelli, teacher; Santana, Donna Small, teacher; and Valhalla High School, Melisa Korn Heller, teacher.

The 2016 celebration recognized three students from the Education Pathway, Jessika Gonzalez, Granite Hills High School; Marylou Glover, Grossmont High School; and Miriam Soto, Grossmont High School, who are aspiring teachers and were awarded the Terry K. Ryan Scholarship presented by Ms. Sandy Ryan.

37 CTE pathway students, one student from every pathway at each school, were honored as the Outstanding Pathway Student of the Year. Business partners Eric Lund, General Manager, SD Regional East County Chamber of Commerce and Luis Barrios, General Manager, Hilton Hotel-Harbor Island were honored for their continued commitment and dedication to the CTE program. Jason Kay, CTE Engineering teacher at Santana, was acknowledged as the CTE Golden Apple Teacher for 2016. Three retirees were honored for their exemplary service: Teresa Wilkinson, El Cajon Valley; Ralf Swenson, Superintendent; and Barbara James, CTE.

Click here to view the event program.

Grossmont Students Attack Hacking Competition

Grossmont High School's G Team Six

Grossmont High School placed 6th out of 125 teams in a hacking competition last Saturday at the UCSD San Diego Supercomputer Center. During the seven-hour competition there were three windows virtual machines, two linux virtual machines, and a computer forensics challenge in which the students participated.

Teacher Patrick Giovengo’s “G Team Six” was led by Trentin Wilkins, Nathan Jones, Bradley Justice, Matthew Linquist, Charles Sanders, and Gabriel LeBon.

They won a cash prize of $700 for the school and a week long summer cyber boot camp sponsored by General Atomics.

The competition was exceptionally good. The students are all interested in participating in more competitions and are in the process of enrolling in the national Cyber Patriot competition. Curtis Sharon, a computer science instructor from Cuyamaca College has offered to assist by mentoring them and providing facilities.

Congratulations to these students and Grossmont Site Tech Jeff Blount who was an outstanding mentor who secured machines and assisted students with detecting security vulnerabilities.

Save the Date: District Art Show Opens May 20

I hope you will join us for the opening reception of the 30th Annual GUHSD Student Art Show at Westfield Shopping Center-Parkway Plaza. The opening reception will be held on Friday, May 20, at 5:30 p.m., with an awards ceremony. Student artwork will be on exhibit through Sunday afternoon.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

GUHSD Hires Next Superintendent

Superintendent Swenson with incoming Superintendent Dr. Tim Glover

I’m pleased to announce on behalf of the Governing Board, that Dr. Tim Glover has been hired as the next superintendent of the Grossmont Union High School District. Dr. Glover received a 4-year contract and will joining the District full time on July 1.

Dr. Glover is a 25-year resident of East County whose son is a recent graduate of West Hills High School. He has deep roots in our East County community, and is committed to building positive relationships with teacher leaders and staff across the District.

Dr. Glover has nearly 30 years of experience as an educational leader, currently serving as the Assistant Superintendent of the Student Services and Programs Division at the San Diego County Office of Education. A product of Castle Park High School, he returned to the Sweetwater District to serve as Interim Superintendent in July 2014.

Dr. Glover also served for three years as senior director of the East County SELPA, coordinating special education services for the 10 East County School Districts and the Barona Indian Charter School. He was honored by the San Diego Chapter of the Association of California School Administrators as the Special Education Administrator of the Year.

He has extensive experience in South County, having spent years in the classroom and working as an administrator in the Chula Vista Elementary School and Sweetwater Union High School districts. Dr. Glover was principal of Salt Creek, Greg Rogers and Olympic View elementary schools, and assistant principal of Hilltop Middle and High schools in the Sweetwater District.

At Sweetwater he also served as program manager (1998-2000), assistant director (2000-2002) and Director (2004-2006) of Special Support Services (2000-2002), as well as his time at Castle Park High School (1991-1993). His general education and special education teaching assignments included Southwest Junior High School, Mar Vista Middle School, Hilltop High School and Chula Vista High School.

Dr. Glover attended UCLA for his undergraduate studies, earned a MS in Educational Administration from National University and a doctorate of education in organizational management from the University of La Verne. He also holds several professional credentials (Professional Clear Administrative Services Credential, Specialist Credential – Special Education, and Single Subject Teaching Credential – Social Sciences).

State Board of Education Unanimously Approves Waiver of Election Requirement

Superintendent Swenson and Dr. Glover with the GUHSD contingent in Sacramento

On Thursday, May 12, the California State Board of Education unanimously approved GUHSD’s Waiver of Election Requirement without any objections.

Legal Counsel Christopher Skinnell, incoming Superintendent Dr. Glover, Mount Miguel Principal Dr. Hedrick, Mount Miguel student Josephine Schneider, and incoming GEA President James Messina and Treasurer Jay Tweet joined me in Sacramento to speak on behalf of the GUHSD Waiver of Election requirement. The State Board of Education seemed very impressed with the support.

Effective November 2016 and beyond, members of the GUHSD Governing Board will now be elected in by-trustee area elections. More details will follow in the coming weeks.

Thank you for your support and encouragement throughout this process.

Grossmont's Mark Jackman Earns $500 Award for Ethics in Business Essay

Mark Jackman concluded reading his winning essay to applause as teachers Nicole Thren, Nicole Williams and Superintendent Swenson stood in support of him.

GUHSD’s Career Technical Education program was front and center as GUHSD hosted the San Diego East County Chamber’s monthly breakfast meeting on Friday, May 6. In addition to highlighting the award-winning CTE programs in our schools, we also recognized the winners of the Chamber’s Ethics in Business Conference essay contest, which was open to all students who participated in the conference.

Thanks to the generosity of the San Diego East County Chamber membership, four East County students were selected, including the $500 first place recipient, Mark Jackman, from Grossmont High School. Mark also received a limousine ride to and from the event, where he read his essay aloud to nearly 300 members of the business community. Mark's class also received $500 for classroom needs. He was accompanied by Grossmont teachers Nicole Thren and Nicole Williams.

Second and third place honor went to students from Foothills Christian. Santana’s Alex Campbell received $100 for his fourth place finish.

Two El Cajon Valley Students Named Gates Millennium Scholars

Principal Kim Patterson, Gustavo de Santiago, Jeffrey Rodriguez, and teacher Sarah Michelson

Gustavo de Santiago and Jeffrey Rodriguez, two students from El Cajon Valley High School, have been named in the final class of Gates Millennium Scholars. They were recommended for the scholarship by teacher Sarah Michelson.

The Gates Millennium Scholars Program is administered by the United Negro College Fund. The partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation established the program in 1999 as a $1.6 billion-funded grant to encourage minority scholars.

The 1,000 chosen students, will be awarded a scholarship that can be used to pursue a degree in any undergraduate major and selected graduate programs at accredited colleges or universities. The amounts vary according to need.

The class of 2016, from a pool of 53,000 applicants, will be the final group of Gates Millennium Scholars, as the program meets its goal of selecting 20,000 students from low-income backgrounds.

Congratulations to Gustavo de Santiago and Jeffrey Rodriguez!

GUHSD Students Attend Flying Samaritans High School Conference at UCSD

GUHSD students from West Hills, El Cajon Valley, Santana and Mount Miguel High Schools attended the first annual Built to Achieve More High School Student Conference at UCSD’s School of Medicine on Saturday, April 9. The event was hosted by UCSD's chapter of Flying Samaritans, a student run organization that volunteers to provide health services to those in need. The event was spearheaded by UCSD senior and Public Health major, Melissa Meneses, who is a Health Pathway Alumni from Mount Miguel's Academy of Medical & Health Sciences.

The high school students were treated to a lecture about public health and health equity by UCSD Professor, Dr. Leslie Lewis, followed by a series of intense break-out sessions. During these break-out sessions, where students were teamed with college mentors, students learned about cardiovascular health from nursing students and were able to apply their knowledge to both cow and chicken hearts, practiced taking vital signs and patient care in a simulated health clinic, and learned what it takes to succeed as a pre-med or pre-health student at the university level. Themes about the value of compassion and communication in healthcare ran through all the presentations. The day wrapped up with a tour of UCSD's beautiful campus.

GUHSD Students Attend Health & Biotech Career Expo at Grossmont College

GUHSD students from Santana and Mount Miguel’s Health Career Pathways took part in the first annual Health and Biotech Career Expo at Grossmont College on Friday, April 22. The event provided a unique opportunity for students to learn more about medical and biotechnology topics through interactive workshops, meet and connect with pathway students from different schools, and learn about university career pathway programs in San Diego County.

In addition to massive career and college exposure, students left with marketable skills such as micro-pipetting, loading and running a gel electrophoresis, soft skills and bystander CPR. Many partners from education and industry came together to make this event a reality including Grossmont College, Health Workforce Initiative, Southern California Biotechnology Center, GUHSD Health Career Pathways, Grossmont's Health Occupations Center, UCSD's Flying Samaritans, San Diego State University's Nursing Program, San Diego Project Heart Beat, San Diego City Fire, Southwestern College and many more.

Get a Jumpstart on College this Summer at Grossmont & Cuyamaca Colleges

Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges are offering more than 400 classes this summer, the biggest summer ever at the two East County colleges. If you’re graduating from high school this spring, taking a class at Grossmont or Cuyamaca College is a great way to get a taste of college and earn some extra credits.

Classes begin June 13, and four-, six- and eight-week classes are available, in addition to online courses. For students wanting to learn how to be successful in college, both campuses are offering College and Career Success (COUN-120) in class and online, teaching study skills such as note-taking, listening to lectures, managing time, studying for tests and improving memory. Also covered are topics such as stress management and discovering motivations and personal strengths.

Go to www.gcccd.edu/now for links to summer class schedules for both colleges and how to apply and register.

If you want to get a head start on college, Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges are here for you!

Upcoming Events …

IDEA Center High School Open House on May 18

On Wednesday, May 18, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., IDEA Center High School is holding an open house to showcase pathway classes and provide campus tours. Click here for details. IDEA Center High School is located at 1600 North Cuyamaca Street in El Cajon.

District Art Show Opens May 20

Please plan to join us for the opening reception of the 30th Annual GUHSD Student Art Show at Westfield Shopping Center-Parkway Plaza. The opening reception will be held on Friday, May 20, at 5:30 p.m. with an awards ceremony. Student artwork will be on exhibit through Sunday afternoon.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

2015-16 Sportsmanship Awards Ceremony

2015-16 Sportsmanship Award Recipients. Photo courtesy of Boyd Anderson

The 2015-16 Sportsmanship Awards Ceremony was held on Tuesday, May 17, at the La Mesa Community Center. At the annual event, 22 GUHSD student athletes took to the stage to accept their awards in the presence of family members, coaches and school officials. Two students from each high school in the District were honored, not just for excellence in sports, but in recognition of their sportsmanship and character.

After accepting their awards, the students and their family members received complimentary photos courtesy of Boyd Anderson Photography. Parents, siblings and other family members stood with the students after pictures with coaches and administrators were taken.

The Grossmont Athletic Conference is the only one in San Diego County to present sportsmanship awards of this kind. I believe the event is an important extension of what we aim for as an educational institution and is consistent with upholding the CIF 16 Principles of Pursuing Victory with Honor.

Congratulations to the following 2015-16 Sportsmanship Award Recipients:

El Cajon Valley High School - Titishia Shari Clemons, Muhamad Tahir

El Capitan High School - Heather Vettel, Devin Dulay

Granite Hills - Bailey Dehaven, Kellen Gaeir

Grossmont - Courtney Clifford, Tommy Rutherford

Helix Charter - Dominique Banks, Trence Wilson-Gillem

Monte Vista - Ursula Victorino-Gomez, Tyler Lopez

Mount Miguel - DeAnna Hernandez, Brandol Camacho Frasco

Santana – Sarah Durham, Trent Baugh

Steele Canyon - Katelin Wilson, Anthony Howard

Valhalla - Stephanie Fox, Ryan Burke

West Hills – Alaina Melanson, Spencer Moy

Valhalla Shines at National History Day Competition

Valhalla Students at National History Day Competition

On Saturday, May 7, Valhalla High School placed runner-up in the Senior Group Performance category of the state finals during the annual National History Day (NHD) competition held in Sacramento.

Representing San Diego County, Brooke Davalos, Dylan Buxbaum, Sehar Amini, and Diego Cordova presented a historical performance based on the Lewis & Clark expedition to the newly purchased western United States in 1804 - 1806. They competed against 18 high school teams who advanced from county-level competitions throughout the state.

We congratulate these four 9th grade students for their significant achievement in what is their first year as an organized club at Valhalla High School. Students who are interested in joining the NHD Club this coming fall should contact Justin Hernandez, their teacher/advisor, at jhernandez@guhsd.net or visit nhd.org.

Mount Miguel Show Choir Outperforms Competition

Mount Miguel Show Choir

The Mount Miguel Honor Show Choir, under the direction of Mrs. Heather Tweed Hargett, competed at the Music in the Parks Choir festival at Knott's Berry Farm on Saturday, May 7. They perform throughout the year in the San Diego area and finish with the May competition. They performed four songs for the adjudicators including: A Sky Full of Stars; All of Me, soloist: Richard Andrade; Shake You Groove Thing; and Dance with Me Tonight, soloist: Andrew Alvarez.

The students earned first place with Superior rankings. Over the 500+ students who participated, they also won for Best Vocalist - Richard Andrade, Best Accompaniment - Robert Hada, and Best Overall Choir. A very successful outcome!

Third Annual Celebration of Community Partners Event

Celebrating Community Partners Program

The Grossmont Union High School District celebrated community partners involved with its WorkAbility & Transition Partnership Project at the Elks Lodge in El Cajon on Thursday, May 19. The event highlighted employers who have partnered with the school district and agencies to support special needs students with employment and higher education. WorkAbility and the Transition Partnership Project are statewide collaborative programs of the California Department of Education, the State Department of Rehabilitation, and local education agencies.

These programs were created through interagency agreements in order to promote career exploration and teach vocational skills to students in Special Education.

GUHSD's 2016-17 Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)

GUHSD's 2016-17 Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and Executive Summary drafts are available for stakeholder input on the District's website. Please see link below to view the LCAP, the LCAP Executive Summary and stakeholder survey, and provide feedback by June 3.

The Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) is an important component of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Under the LCFF funding system, revenue limits and most of the state's 50 categorical programs have been eliminated.

Now, the LCFF creates funding targets based on student characteristics (i.e. unduplicated count of pupils who (1) are English learners, (2) meet income or categorical eligibility requirements for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program, or (3) are foster and/or homeless youth; “unduplicated count” means that each pupil is counted only once even if the pupil meets more than one of these criteria) and provides greater flexibility to use these funds to improve student outcomes.

Under the LCFF all local educational agencies (LEAs), or school districts, are required to prepare an LCAP, which describes how they intend to meet annual goals for all pupils with specific activities to address state and local priorities.

More information on LCFF and LCAP is available here.

Upcoming Orchestra Showcase on 5/27

On Friday, May 27, 2016, West Hills High School will host the GUHSD Orchestra Showcase at 6:30 p.m. Please join us for a wonderful evening of music performed by several high school orchestras in the district. Our music directors have a wonderful program planned. This event is presented by the Parent Music Advocacy Group (PMAG). Admission is $5 for adults and high school students. Middle school student admission is, as are seniors and military.

District Art Show Opens Tonight!

Please plan to join us for the opening reception of the 30th Annual GUHSD Student Art Show at Westfield Shopping Center-Parkway Plaza tonight. The opening reception begins at 5:30 p.m. with an awards ceremony. Student artwork will be on exhibit through Sunday afternoon.

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In closing, I share with you a number of recent board recognitions, which showcase the academic achievement and athletic prowess shown by our talented students:

2015-16 Academic League Varsity Champions - Santana

2015-16 Academic League Junior Varsity Champions - Santana

Winter All-Academic Girls Soccer Team Captain, Savanna Nager - Steele Canyon

Winter All-Academic Boys Basketball Team Captain, Tommy Rutherford - Grossmont

Winter All-Academic Wrestling Team Captain, Trence Gillem - Helix Charter

East County High School and College District Boards Discuss Education Alliance Priorities

Members of the GUHSD & GCCCD Governing Boards

In their second joint meeting on May 17, the Governing Boards of East County’s college and high school districts set new priorities to expand and develop the East County Education Alliance, the two-year-old partnership to better prepare high school students for college and a career.

The Alliance was founded in 2014 by the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District and the Grossmont Union High School District to smooth the transition between high school and college. The Alliance has begun promoting the Higher Edge scholarship, which will offer a free year of classes at Grossmont or Cuyamaca College to qualifying high school graduates, beginning with the class 2019.

The joint meeting was held to review the progress made and to set priorities for the Alliance. Board members also approved priorities for the Alliance, which include expansion of the Alliance partnership, better alignment of high school and college curriculum, improved career pathways for students, and engaging the East County community in supporting the work of the Alliance.

Representatives from the Alliance are visiting all GUHSD schools to tell current ninth-graders about the Higher Edge scholarship promise and let them know the steps they will need to take to be eligible for a Higher Edge scholarship.

To receive a scholarship, students must maintain a cumulative minimum 2.0 GPA and begin college within a year after they graduate from high school. Students must fill out a financial aid form and participate in an orientation and educational assessment. To help prepare them for college, students will need to participate in events to learn about college and take a college success course. For more information about the scholarship, go to http://higheredgescholarship.org/

A key goal of the scholarship is to get students and parents excited about the prospect of college, so this year’s freshmen, who will be the first to benefit, all received congratulatory letters informing them they are eligible for the Higher Edge scholarship promise.

Three high school freshmen spoke to board members about how the Higher Edge scholarship promise and the work of the Alliance will make their futures brighter. For more information about the Alliance, go to www.eastcountyeducationalliance.org.

Mount Miguel JROTC Memorial Day Ceremony

Mount Miguel JROTC's annual Memorial Day Ceremony

Mount Miguel High School JROTC held its annual Memorial Day Ceremony on Monday, May 13, 2016. The program began with Battalion Executive Officer Cadet Major Dearmin Kassab providing a brief history and understanding of the significance of this important day.

The program included the playing of Reveille, followed by the National Anthem, as the flag was raised.

Originally, Memorial Day was called “Decoration Day,” because it was traditionally marked by parades, memorial speeches, ceremonies, and the decoration of gravesites with flowers and flags. In honor of this tradition, Cadet 2nd Lieutenant Johnlester Simon served as Honor Bearer, placing an American Flag, a helmet, and a pair of boots at the base of the flag pole. He then slowly saluted the flag as a symbol of respect and honor to those who have served and sacrificed their lives for America’s freedom.

The ceremony closed as the flag was lowered while To the Colors and Taps were played.

Santana Students 2016 State Champions for Engineering Design Challenge

2016 State Champions Victoria Hilke, Cole Stromberg & Nathan Garrett with teacher Jason Kay

On Saturday April 16, 2016 over 90 Project Lead the Way (PLTW) high school engineering teams from five regions throughout the state competed in the annual PLTW engineering design challenge.

The top three teams from each region then go on to compete for the state championship in Sacramento. Santana's engineering team earned a top three finish in the Southern Regional competition back in April and was awarded a spot to compete in the state championship on May 14, 2016.

The top 15 teams in the state met at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning and each team of students was given an undisclosed design brief. The teams were tasked to develop a "Smart Toy" that ran off an iPAD that would serve a specific educational purpose for various child age groups. The teams had only had 6.5 hours to come up with a design, create technical drawings for their design, and make a presentation in front of various engineers from around the state of California.

Students Victoria Hilke, Cole Stromberg, and Nathan Garrett finished in first place, claiming the PLTW Engineering Design Challenge state championship for 2016. Victoria Hilke created the amazing drawings; Cole Stromberg crafted flawless CAD parts using his amazing technical skills; and Nathan Garrett led the group with his innovative ideas. It was a true team effort where all three students delivered an impressive five-minute presentation to the judges. For their efforts, each student was awarded the grand prize of a brand new laptop computer.

Mr. Kay's engineering program at Santana High School has been dominating this event. His teams have made it to the state finals five of the past seven years and this is the third state championship over that span.

Monte Vista Auto Competes in Cuyamaca College’s Auto Skills Day

Monte Vista auto teacher Mike Fleming and students with their new tools

On May 7, fourteen students from Monte Vista High School and teacher Mike Fleming had a very successful experience at Cuyamaca College's Auto Skills Day event. Now in its 37th year, the annual event showcases Cuyamaca College’s automotive technology program with high school and college students turning wrenches in head-to-head competition.

Our students competed in skills covering eight areas of the automobile: engine repair; engine performance, drivetrain, suspension, steering, brakes, heating/air conditioning; and electrical.

In the basic competition, students Angel Segura and Ismael Hernandez took first place with each earning about $400 in tools. Student Erik Palomares took third in the advanced competition and was awarded with approximately $300 dollars in tools.

Congratulations to our students with thanks to Cuyamaca College for their partnership in helping our students grow in their passion.

Student Expo Leadership Training

GUHSD students participate in leadership training

Students leaders from all six GUHSD Health Career Pathways gathered at El Cajon Valley High School on May 17 to prepare for the upcoming inaugural GUHSD Health Career Pathways Awards and Student Expo at Grossmont College's Griffin Gate on June 1. This is the first event of its kind, bringing together leaders from all of our health career pathways across the district.

These leaders learned about other Health Career Pathways in the district, interacted with leaders from other schools, practiced their presentation skills, refined their leadership and had fun! Every student did an impressive job representing their site's health pathway. Special thanks is extended to site coordinators Lyn Smith and Corrie Biggerstaff, and the East County Career Center’s Sylvia Sposato for helping to facilitate the training.

GUHSD's 2016-17 Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)

GUHSD's 2016-17 Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and Executive Summary drafts are available for input on our district website. Please see link below to view the LCAP, the LCAP Executive Summary and stakeholder survey. Your feedback is requested by June 3.

Under the LCFF, all local educational agencies (LEAs), or school districts, are required to prepare an LCAP, which describes how they intend to meet annual goals for all pupils, with specific activities to address state and local priorities.

More information on LCFF and LCAP is available here.

Orchestra Showcase Tonight

Tonight, West Hills High School will host the GUHSD Orchestra Showcase at 6:30 p.m. Please join us for a wonderful evening of music performed by several high school orchestras in the district. Our music directors have a wonderful program planned. This event is presented by the Parent Music Advocacy Group (PMAG). Admission is $5.00 for adults and high school students. Admission for middle school students, seniors, and military, is free.

Superintendent Ralf Swenson

Helix Charter's Class of 2016 Celebrates on June 2. Credit: Dianne Damschen

Throughout June, approximately 4,696 students earning a high school diploma from nine comprehensive high schools, two charter high schools and three alternative high schools in the Grossmont Union High School District will be donning caps and gowns for commencement exercises.

The breakdown includes:

School	2016 Graduates
El Cajon Valley	326
El Capitan	321
Granite Hills	510
Grossmont	468
Helix Charter	485
Monte Vista	347
Mount Miguel	253
Santana	299
Steele Canyon	502
Valhalla	445
West Hills	512
Grossmont Middle College High	35
Alternative & Special Education	106
Adult School	87

Following is a schedule of graduation dates, times, locations, listing of valedictorians and salutatorians by school, and a list of the valedictorians including parent names and communities.

Graduation Schedule

SCHOOL Date Time Location

El Cajon Valley High School Wednesday, June 15 6:00 p.m. Stadium

El Capitan High School Wednesday, June 15 6:00 p.m. Stadium

Granite Hills High School Thursday, June 16 8:00 a.m. Stadium

Grossmont High School Thursday, June 16 10:00 a.m. Stadium

Helix Charter High School Thursday, June 2 6:00 p.m. Stadium

Monte Vista High School Thursday, June 16 6:00 p.m. Stadium

Mount Miguel High School Thursday, June 16 6:00 p.m. Stadium

Santana High School Wednesday, June 15 6:00 p.m. Stadium

Steele Canyon High School Wednesday, June 8 6:00 p.m. Stadium

Valhalla High School Thursday, June 15 5:30 p.m. East Lawn

West Hills High School Thursday, June 16 8:30 a.m. Stadium

IDEA Center Friday, June 10 6:00 p.m. Outdoor Quad

Grossmont Middle College Monday, June 6 5:30 p.m. Grossmont College Quad

Adult Education Tuesday, June 14 6:00 p.m. Foothills Adult School

REACH Wednesday, June 15 10:00 a.m. REACH Facility

ELITE Academy Wednesday, June 15 2:00 p.m. ELITE Facility

MERIT Academy Tuesday, June 14 1:00 p.m. MERIT Facility

2016 VALEDICTORIANS

The Grossmont Union High School District has announced the names of the valedictorians for the senior class of 2016. Twenty-two students have attained this high honor. The student names, parent names and communities, and schools are as follows:

Valedictorians	Parents	Community
El Cajon Valley High School Jeffrey Rodriguez	Marybelt Montoya	El Cajon
El Capitan High School Cameron Gritz	Mr. & Mrs. Eric Gritz	Lakeside
Granite Hills High School Gillian Wedge Joseph Miller Braxton Silva Dana Bakke	Mr. & Mrs. Dale Wedge Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Miller Mr. & Mrs. Brad Silva Mr. & Mrs. Victor Bakke	El Cajon Alpine Alpine El Cajon
Grossmont High School Bradley Justice	Mr. & Mrs. Scott Justice	El Cajon
Helix Charter High School Navin Pot Spencer Pham Filemoni Filemoni Julia Ryan Rachel Orey	Navy Pot & Bunheng Phann Cuong Pham & Belinda Ho Mr. & Mrs. Simeaola Filemoni Mr. & Mrs. Peter Ryan Mr. & Mrs. Carl Orey	La Mesa La Mesa Lemon Grove La Mesa Spring Valley
Monte Vista High School Tyler Lopez	Mr. & Mrs. Tom Lopez	Spring Valley
Mount Miguel High School Michelle N. Tran	Mr & Mrs. Michael Tran	Lemon Grove
Santana High School Catelyn Renna Jordan Tockstein	Mr. Morris Renna & Mrs. Cheryl Bowden-Renna Mr. & Mrs. Chuck Tockstein	Santee El Cajon
Steele Canyon High School Jerin Brust	Mr. & Mrs. Jason Brust	El Cajon
Valhalla High School Lucas Walz	Mr. & Mrs. John Walz	El Cajon
West Hills High School Lily Demangos Iris Hinh Carrie Sanders	Mr. & Mrs. Matthew Demangos Mr. & Mrs. Thuan Hinh Mr. & Mrs. James Sanders	Santee San Diego Santee
Grossmont Middle College Ruvarashe Mubaiwa	Idzai & Hannington Mubaiwa	El Cajon

COMPOSITE DATA BY SCHOOL

El Cajon Valley High School 326 Graduates (including 4 January grads) Valedictorian: Jeffrey Rodriguez – 4.69 Salutatorian: Denisse Aparicio – 4.674	El Capitan High School 321 Graduates Valedictorian: Cameron Gritz – 4.854 Salutatorians: Marjaa Tiffany Manuel – 4.795 Milena Kufa – 4.718
Granite Hills High School 510 Graduates (including 1 January grad) Valedictorians: Gillian Wedge – 4.864 Joseph Miller – 4.833 Braxton Silva – 4.792 Dana Bakke – 4.741 Salutatorian: none	Grossmont High School 468 Graduates Valedictorian: Bradley Justice – 4.833 Salutatorians: Antonina Contreras – 4.786 Mattelyn Wadley – 4.780
Helix Charter High School 485 Graduates (including 5 January grads) Valedictorians: Navin Pot – 4.78 Spencer Pham – 4.74 Filemoni Filemoni – 4.73 Julia Ryan – 4.69 Rachel Orey – 4.65 Salutatorian: none	Monte Vista High School 347 Graduates (including 2 January grads) Valedictorian: Tyler Lopez – 4.786 Salutatorian: Ursula Victorino Gomez – 4.721
Mount Miguel High School 253 Graduates Valedictorian: Michelle N. Tran – 4.711 Salutatorian: Breanna Camille San Jose Cayabyab – 4.652	Santana High School 299 Graduates Valedictorians: Catelyn Renner – 4.76 Jordan Tockstein – 4.75 Salutatorian: Sophia Stepp – 4.738
Steele Canyon High School 502 Graduates (including 18 January grads) Valedictorian: Jerin Brust – 4.711 Salutatorians: Kenneth Lautner – 4.702 Lindsey Snyder – 4.683 Mariah Chappell – 4.674	Valhalla High School 445 Graduates Valedictorian: Lucas Walz – 4.864 Salutatorians: Tyler Davis – 4.75 Anthony Bajoua – 4.729
West Hills High School 512 Graduates (including 1 January grad) Valedictorians: Lily Demangos – 4.762 Carrie Sanders – 4.725 Iris Hinh – 4.714 Salutatorian: none	Grossmont Middle College High School 35 Graduates Valedictorian: Ruvarashe Mubaiwa – 4.582 Salutatorians: Vincent Rafael Seguin – 4.569 Abraham Cabral – 4.56
Alternative Education & Special Education 106 Graduates	Grossmont Foothills Adult School 87 Graduates

2015-16 Gold Star Parent Volunteers Recognized

GUHSD Gold Star Parent Volunteers for the 2015-16 School Year

At the Governing Board meeting last night we honored Gold Star Parent Volunteers. The Gold Star Parent Volunteers program was developed in 2011 to recognize a parent from each school site who goes above and beyond to assist our schools in a variety of different ways.

It was wonderful to hear the stories of service to our schools as each principal introduced their Gold Star Volunteer. We thank you for your efforts on behalf of our students.

2015-16 GUHSD Gold Star Parent Volunteers:

Chaparral High School – Tangerine Risberg

El Cajon Valley High School – Abraham Muheize

El Capitan High School – Yvonne George

Granite Hills High School – Corrie Shein

Grossmont High School – Wella Campbell

IDEA Center – Charity Lacey

Monte Vista High School – Nanette Rojas

Mount Miguel High School – Deborah Childers

Santana High School – Kim Whitacre

Valhalla High School – Heide Doss

West Hills High School – Melissa Smith

Santana Students Ace Mentorship Program

Santana High School's ACE Team

Santana's Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (ACE) mentorship is a year-long after school program where any student interested in pursuing a career in the STEM field can participate. Students who participate develop a mock design that would benefit the community. Mentors from industry visit with the students once every two weeks to help guide the students with their design, ensuring that the students take everything into account when managing a public works project. At the end of each year, schools from around San Diego present their designs to architects, engineers, and contractors from industry.

This year's ACE banquet was held at San Diego State University on Saturday, May 21. The Santana ACE team's design for this year was a Green Shores Energy Research Center, which would be built next to the lagoon in Carlsbad.

This research center would be available to the public, businesses, schools, colleges, and universities to conduct research on sustainable energies. The overall design must include detailed site, floor, and landscape plans, architectural concepts, environmental impact, schedule, and cost. Tristan Glunt, Alejo Favero, Pierce Howell, Andrew Pelowitz, Zack Strange, Cole Stromberg, Brandan Taing, Sophia Stepp, Diego Gomez, and Daniel Wilcox all participated in the presentation.

Following the presentations, members from industry award scholarships to individuals based on academics, professionalism, and commitment throughout the year. This year Santana students were awarded $12,500 in scholarships, the most of any of the other schools that presented this year.

GUHSD Students Receive COX Cares Scholarships

2016 COX Scholars Kayla Peters, Jessica Board & Kira Bunker

On Wednesday, June 8, I attended the Cox Scholars Awards Luncheon. The Cox Scholars Program rewards academic excellence and personal perseverance by granting scholarships to graduating high school seniors. Scholarship recipients were chosen from hundreds of applicants based on their personal commitment to scholastic achievement and community involvement.

The following Cox Scholars from the Grossmont Union High School District will receive scholarships to attend a California college or university of their choice:

Hannah Romano – Steele Canyon Charter High School

Dakota Betz – West Hills High School

Kira Bunker – Mount Miguel High School

Jessica Board – El Capitan High School

Kayla Peters – Grossmont Middle College High School

First Annual GUHSD Health Career Pathways Awards and Student Expo

Health Pathway students from Granite Hills. Credit: Kendall Lowry

On Wednesday, June 1, health career pathway students from across the district were recognized and celebrated at the First Annual GUHSD Health Career Pathways Awards and Student Expo. Preceding the awards ceremony, which took place in Grossmont College’s prestigious Griffin Gate, student leaders showcased their unique programs for administrators, teachers, families and the Grossmont Healthcare District at the Student Expo.

Following inspirational speeches from successful health career pathway alumni, GUHSD health career pathway seniors were recognized for successfully completing their programs of study by both our pathways' program and by Senator Joel Anderson's office. 94% of our health career pathway Seniors reported they will be attending college or university in the fall, and the majority have committed to pre-med, pre-health or science programs in colleges and universities across the country ranging from North Carolina, Tennessee, Iowa, Utah, and Arizona to dozens of schools here in California.

GUHSD’s Health Career Pathways have grown from a three-school, 200-student program in 2005, to a six-school, 2,000+ student program eleven years later. Now, nearly one in ten GUHSD students are enrolled in a health career pathway, affording these students the opportunity to connect their science curriculum to real-world learning experiences through participation in a plethora of work-based learning opportunities ranging from guest speakers to intensive hospital internship programs. These students will be prepared to make up our healthcare workforce in the future thanks to the generous support of the Grossmont Healthcare District and industry partners.

Santana Holds Academy Awards Recognition Event

Academy Awards Night at Santana

On Thursday, June 9, Santana teacher Charles Zepf’s Arts, Media and Entertainment (AME) pathway students filmed their Academy Awards Program. Award categories mirrored those in the film and entertainment industry today, such as Best Script Writer and Best Sound Editing.

Awards were also presented for Santana’s news broadcasting program, including Best Male and Female News Anchor and Best News Team. Each category included the memorable lines "May I have the envelope please..." and "The winner is..." This program recognized student achievement in a fun and entertaining format.

Mount Miguel Academy of Medical and Health Sciences Graduates

Mount Miguel Academy of Medical & Health Sciences Graduates. Credit: Gonzolo Leon

The Mount Miguel High School Academy of Medical and Health Sciences will graduate 15 students this year. These students completed extensive community service, and participated in a job shadow, hospital internship or hospital volunteer program. These dedicated health career pathway students were recognized for their achievements at a ceremony on Tuesday, June 7.

\All of these students will be enrolled in science, nursing and pre-med programs next fall at: Grossmont College, Southwestern College, CSU San Marcos, USD, UCSD and UCLA. Best of luck to each of them as they journey toward their careers in health and medicine.

Monte Vista Students Reel in New Skills

Monte Vista student beams after reeling in a fish

Monte Vista Automotive Pathway students attended their third and final fishing trip for the year. It was a beautiful day with calm seas and no breeze with the morning fog burning off during the boat ride back to shore. A total of five students caught 12 bass and five mackerel. They had a fantastic time and realized that their teacher Mr. Fleming knows much more than just auto shop. This is the fourth year of fishing trips for the automotive pathway, and Mr. Fleming is unbeaten in catching the first fish of the trip. Each student took home about 1 1/2 lbs. of fish for dinner!

Summer Classes for Graduates at Grossmont & Cuyamaca Colleges

Go to www.gcccd.edu/now to apply and register.

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In closing, the end of another school year is fast approaching as final exams are underway and commencement exercises conclude next week. I extend congratulations to the Class of 2016 and their families. We trust our students leave us prepared for a great future and with many fond memories of their educational experience.

Following is a number of student recognitions, primarily from last night's Governing Board meeting, showcasing academic achievements and athletic accomplishments of our talented students:

Recognition of El Cajon Valley Gates Millennium Scholars Jeffrey Rodriguez & Gustavo de Santiago

Recognition of Granite Hills Boy Baseball Team - CIF-SDS Div. I Champions

Recognition of Grossmont Girls Softball Team - CIF-SDS Div. III Champions

Recognition of West Hills Girls Gymnastics Team - CIF-SDS Champions

Recognition of outgoing Student Board Representative Jayden Anderson

Recognition of Golden Artistry Jewelry Designs Competition winners with Terry Whyte

Recognition of CTE Student Ambassadors

Grossmont NJROTC marches in the La Mesa Flag Day parade

Adult School students earn high school equivalency certificates at the East County Transitional Living Center

Superintendent's Art Award winner Samantha Ryan (West Hills)

As I began my time as superintendent of the Grossmont District in 2010, I published an introduction to the school community that described GUHSD as ". . . one of the most widely respected and historically rich districts in California." That statement is still true. During my six years as superintendent I have been witness to the rich learning experiences of our students, the dedication and tireless commitment of our teachers, and the broad base of support offered by our East County community.

Together we have faced a number of challenges, not the least of which were the economic recession and a pattern of declining enrollment. We made a series of difficult decisions to respond to those challenges, and through it all, our schools continue to improve their academic performances and sustain their place as true sources of pride to the communities they serve. A thorough review of the ongoing successes and numerous recognitions received by our schools confirms that the Grossmont Union High School District is among the finest in California.

Our Governing Board has stayed committed to providing the very best for our students and staff. They asked me to work with our teachers and staff members to increase rigor, expand educational options, and provide opportunities for our students to achieve even higher levels of success – and we have been successful in doing so. Our Board has also been steadfast in its commitment to keeping our campuses safe and maintaining a clean and orderly learning environment. Their support of the incredible facility improvements made possible through our Proposition H/U school bond program has touched every campus.

I will retire on July 1, marking the end of my 39-year career in public education. I began as a social studies teacher and football coach in a small school in North Dakota, came to California in 1989 to become a vice principal and then a principal, spent three years as a superintendent in Northern California, and these past six years as the proud superintendent of this great school district.

I extend my sincere gratitude to all of you. I have truly enjoyed my time with Grossmont and am confident that even greater accomplishments lie ahead for our schools. Please click here to review a document entitled Looking Forward. It provides a summary of where we are at this point in time and outlines some of our ongoing initiatives that will help to shape an even brighter future.

As a reminder, classes resume on August 15.

Ralf Swenson

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February is Career Technical Education Month

Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee Issues 2015 Annual Report

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2016 Graduation Information

SCHOOL Date Time Location

What's New in GUHSD

Superintendent's Farewell Message