Students of the MONTH

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Turkey Lurkey Loo- Toodle Doodle Doo!

Warrior News
Week of November 22

GIRLS Start of with a WIN
Girls Basketball season began on Tuesday with a Varsity WIN over St Elizabeth's, 39-28. Kia Howell was the leading scorer for the girls, as the Lady Warriors posted up their first victory of the season. Congratulations to the team, and to Head Coach George Streeter for a great start! Looking forward to an exciting season! 


 Girls Soccer Start 1-0 for the season
 Our Lady Warriors Dominated their first game of the season at Hercules High School, posting up a score of 7-0. GREAT start ladies, we are looking for some amazing things this season!! 


WOW Assembly Celebrates Success! 
The fall WOW assembly, produced by the Renaissance Leadership class, celebrated many student achievement successes and showcased some of the amazing talent at YV. Among the accolades were the 95 Freshman with a 1st quarter GPA of 3.0 or higher, The 21 Sophomores headed to the Principals list with a 4.0 or better, more than 160 students who raised their GPA by .5 or more from last fall to last spring semesters, and more. The Top Ten Inspirational Staff were celebrated, as voted on by the students, and our day time Custodian Robert received the first "Unsung Hero" award, and was brought out to the floor with chants and a standing ovation. 

18 Golden Warrior nominations were announced, for seniors who were nominated by staff and students for this prestigious award based on their academic success, their contribution to the school and greater community, and their leadership habits. These nominees will be featured on the school website throughout the year, as well as in this blog. 

Some of the performers included a wonderful rendition of 'Your Man' that the audience went crazy for, performed by Sophomore Nelson Flores, and a group performance of the Cup Song, with the cups begin performed by 115 of the dancers in the dance program, sung by Nic Hutchins and Claire Rader. The staff dancers wrapped it up with, "What does the Fox say" with George Streeter running around as the elusive fox.

Honored guests included parents, alums, and school board member Lynne Dennler, and the Assembly was an overall success! 

 

Friday, November 15, 2013

Winter Sports Begin!



Warrior Weekly
By: Devin Rader

YV Jazz Rocks at District Jazz Festival
On Wednesday, our very own Jazz Band had the opportunity to play for all the schools of the district. After school, the Jazz Band drove over to DVC, where from 4 o’clock to about 9 o’clock, they were surrounded by Jazz! Not only did they play at the festival, but the band listened to Jazz Bands from around the district. Performances by Northgate, Concord, College Park, and Mount Diablo had the bands entertained for a while. After all the schools had performed, everyone took a break for a pizza dinner. Following the dinner, all the groups returned to the auditorium where they performed, and listened to the District Honor Jazz Band. Students from around the district auditioned to get into this group, and two of our very own students were in the performance! Congratulations to 1st Trumpet Andrew Buschemi, and 2nd Trombone Chris Kinny, for an awesome performance! Following the Honor Jazz Band, everyone was privileged to hear the Jazz Band that was once the DVC Night Jazz Band. With plenty of soloists and exciting charts, the students, though tired by the end, were happy to participate.



Winter Sports Tryouts Underway
Aaaaaaaaand they're off!! The Winter sports teams began tryouts this week, with Wrestling, Boys and Girls Basketball, and Boys and Girls Soccer. Turnout was fantastic, with Boys Soccer topping 100 vying for spots. With teams set by the end of the week, the Warriors are set to begin games as early as next week, with the girls playing their first game on Tuesday, and the boys playing at home Friday and Saturday. Wrestling has their first match on Wednesday at Pittsburg High School. 


 

JV Cheer Team Developed for first time in years! 
Our outstanding cheerleading team, led by coaches Audra Bern (YV class of 2012) and Ashley Alvarez (NG class of 2010) has done a great job recruiting and hosted tryouts this week to form a JV team in time for basketball season. The level of interest was high and a great team was formed! Look for them on the courts this Winter! 


 
Performing Arts Goes on Tour
Thursday, all the performing arts programs including Dance III, Jazz Band, Advanced Guitar, Madrigals, and Drama, had the chance to go around and perform for Oak Grove Middle School and Pleasant Hill Middle School, in an attempt to show the eighth graders how great the performing arts at Ygnacio Valley really are!  With all of the performances, the students of both middle schools were talking about YV and requesting an encore before they even got out the door. In short, YV has entered the minds of the Oak Grove and Pleasant Hill students in a very positive way! Way to go Warriors!




YVHS Performing Arts


What's Wrong with this Picture? 
In the quest to see who is the Staff Handstand Champion of the World, Mr. Freddie Galvan and Ms. Kelly Cooper stepped up to the challenge for round 1... 
Wait a minute... I think I know why Mr. Galvan claimed to win... 

 

Saturday, November 9, 2013

It's MOOOOOOOVEMBER!!

Ygnacio Valley High School
Week of November 4-8

Marching Band Ends Their Season on a HIGH NOTE!
The Golden Warriors marched to Victory at their very last competition this season, the Napa Band Review, earning a third place finish for the band, and another FIRST PLACE finish for the Color Guard. This has been a stellar year for the band, and a particularly excellent start for first year Band Director, Zach Pattison. Congratulations, Warriors- we are proud of you!  See their performance HERE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU-uzliPPMo



Education Academy Loses a Great One
The Warriors and the Education Academy said goodbye to their 19 year CTE teacher, Ms. Laura Hallberg, as she served her last day with YVHS. Ms. Hallberg has accepted a special assignment with the district for the Equity and Disproportionality Team to work with schools in solving their disparities as seen by the Office of Civil Rights. Ms. Hallberg has been a campus favorite for many years, teaching German in the early days, and then Education I and II, overseeing the academy and the student internships into local elementary schools. She bravely and publicly battled breast cancer and has served as an ambassador on campus for Breast Cancer Awareness month.We will miss her greatly, but it's only see you later... YVHS is a pilot school for PBIS, and she will be working closely with our team. And of course, Once a Warrior, Always a Warrior.


Warrior Music performs in the Annual Fall Concert
The Music Department shined in their annual Fall Concert as the Jazz band, Madrigals, and Concert Choirs performed selections for a great audience on Thursday. Zach Pattison, instrumental music director, led the Warriors with aplomb and Geoff Carter, Vocal Music Director kept everyone hoppin' with a variety of Doo Wop and classic tunes. The Warrior musicians will perform together again with the Dance III class and Drama Club on a recruiting tour Thursday the 14th at feeder schools Oak Grove Middle and Pleasant Hill Middle.



Ygnacio Valley Hosts the Fall Special Olympics for the 6th year
The Special Olympics brought area students from the district and area districts to compete in soccer events on Thursday in Warrior Stadium. Over 100 YVHS students volunteered for the event, serving as timers, referees, welcome crews, sports medicine and more. It was a great day of hope, inspiration, camaraderie and sport. Ygnacio Valley will be hosting the Special Olympics again in the spring for track and field events. Congratulations and thank you to VP Rianne Pfaltzgraff for coordinating these events.

Front Office gets a Facelift
The campus just got more beautiful, with a huge help from Memory Woodard and the Concord Rotary Club. Memory has been a long supporter of YVHS, along with Rotary, largely funding our Link Crew program and Interact club. Memory saw a need at the front office for a makeover and recruited Scott Bevan, from Studio Attune, to help design it. Hands down, the office looks amazing! What a great upgrade to the campus- thank you Memory, and thank you to Concord Rotary! 




Warriors play the last game of the Football Season
The Warriors fell to the College Park Falcons on Friday 42-12 in the final game of the season. It was a busy season for the Warriors, and for the Sports Medicine team as well, as they were able to serve the football teams all season long, learning essential medical skills and patient care techniques along the way. Thank you to the entire coaching staff, led by Julius Cross for JV, and Philip Puentes for Varsity, for their dedication and leadership all season, and to our Head Athletic Trainer, Kelly Cooper, for keeping our teams healthy and safe.





Monday, November 4, 2013

When It's Time to Change.... (your clocks)



Warrior News
November 1, 2013

Choirs from District Come Together for All District Choral Festival
On Tuesday, all choirs in the district were invited to participate in a combined District Choral Festival at YVHS. Schools including Northgate, College Park, Clayton Valley, and of course Ygnacio Valley all participated and had been given a few pieces to practice for this festival. The day before, all schools had the opportunity to have one final run through with each other. When the festival began, there was a combined choir for all the schools, along with a few smaller performances by each individual group. Choir and Madrigals director, Mr. Carter, was very pleased by the performances by each group. “All the groups killed it on Tuesday,” Carter said about the festival. YV’s solo performance featured the Mad Men, a group of male madrigal singers whose barbershop song “Coney Island Baby” made the audience erupt in laughter and screams. Way to go Warriors!





Blood Drive- Warriors Saving Lives
ASB Leadership organized the first blood drive of the year, and Warriors stepped up to save 180 lives through the donation of whole blood and plasma. They were awarded for their efforts with t-shirts and cookies. Bleeding hearts indeed! 

 

College Fair Buzz
Wednesday October 30, YVHS hosted a District College Fair for all students and adults seeking information and contacts into higher education. More than eighty colleges and universities attended the event, in a hope to grab some seniors and juniors who needed more information about what was available. Nearly 1000 people attended, making it largely the most successful college fair to date. Students came away with new inspiration as to what is out there, and colleges garnered new interest in their programs. A huge thank you to organizer Ilana Samuels, a YV parent, with the help of Efa Huckaby, our Vice Principal, and Sherry Whitmarsh, YV parent and former board member. 



Halloween and Trunk or Treat
Thursday being Halloween, the students were excited to come up with costume ideas that they could wear to the school. From jocks to zombies, all the students were looking for a scare or a laugh that day. After school, the freshmen had the opportunity for candy and prizes at the Link Crew event, Trunk or Treat! With plenty of games, candy, and a costume party to top it all off, the students got hyped up before they got home! Special thanks to the CARES After School Program for getting the event going!
ASP Staff and YV alum Daphnee Valdez gets in the spirit






After school program getting mummified

















 
Lunch with Principal for Doing what is Right?  
That's right- Students have been in a drawing all month- if they have no tardies throughout the day, 8 students a week were chosen and were given a pass to lunch 5 minutes early every Friday. If they had zero tardies all month, they went into a drawing for a free lunch with Mr. Brady. Friday marked the first of these lunches... and it was delicious! 
Thanks so much to Kinders in Walnut Creek for your support! 


Friday Night Lights- Senior Night!
Friday marked the last of a long homestand for the Warriors, hosting the Mt Diablo Devils- JV won their first game of the season against the devils in a great athletic battle, and the Varsity Warriors fell in a close game. This Friday marks the final game for the Warriors against College Park at DVC, 7pm. 

Senior night for Cheer and Football

All Sports Med Students are Seniors... It was their night too :)

Cross Country Big Finish
The YVHS boys cross country team was the team to beat this season, in a close tie for first entering the league championship. While the Warriors fell to the Falcons, Sophomore runner Jorge Bernabe took the league championship in his first season running. The Warriors ended the season with a 5-1 DVAL record. Sofia Campos also ran well, finishing 20th overall and making 3rd team all league. Congratulations Warriors!!