Youth for Environment and Sustainability Conference to be held February 25 in San Francisco

The annual Youth for Environment and Sustainability, or YES, Conference, returns to the Bay Area at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 25, 2017, at the new Bay Area Metro Center at 375 Beale Street in San Francisco.

The free day-long regional conference will bring together middle and high school students from the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties to discuss topics ranging from climate change and public health to transportation and air pollution. The Bay Area Air Quality Management Districtand the Metropolitan Transportation Commission sponsor the annual conference.

“The YES Conference is an awesome regional gathering that jumpstarts student-led climate action in our schools and local communities,” said Noah Preute, a student from St. Vincent de Paul High School in Santa Rosa and a member of the student planning committee for the YES Conference. “I’m excited to help plan the conference and inform my generation on the serious consequences climate change and air pollution have on our lives and the planet.”

Registration for the event is now open at http://bit.ly/2cEYWkh. Teachers or youth development coordinators who register their studentsbefore October 30, 2016, will be entered into a drawing for a $250 grant for classroom youth leadership activities involving science, technology, engineering, art and math curriculum and sustainability.

A call for presentation proposals invites pioneering students, youth-leaders, teachers or youth advisors to present at the annual YES Conference. The deadline to submit a proposal is Wednesday, January 3, 2017. The online proposal submittal form is available now at http://bit.ly/2dhuevv.

Attending students will have the opportunity to learn directly from their peers’ efforts by discussing advocacy, communication, leadership development and skill building. The program will include interactive presentations led by students and youth leaders from various schools and cities in the region. The 2017YES conference will be the fourth year of bringing youth together to share information to address climate change. The conference was awarded the 2014 Breathe California Award in the public awareness category.

There is no cost to attend the conference and breakfast and lunch will be provided for participants. Parents and teachers are also welcome. Students are required to have their parents’ permission to attend. For complete conference details, visit www.sparetheairyouth.org/2017-yes-conference/.

The goal of the Spare the Air Youth program is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and driving by increasing walking and biking as a transportation mode among youths and their familiesthereby improving air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Air District is the regional agency responsible for protecting air quality in the nine-county Bay Area.MTC is the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties.

By Lieutenant D. Bittner #3252, Antioch Police Field Services Bureau

On Sunday, September 18, 2016, Naomi Lomax (15 years old) was reported as a missing person. She was last seen around 7:00 a.m. on September 17, 2016 near the 4400 block of Wolf Way in Antioch. Her whereabouts are unknown at this time. She is described as being mixed-race, 5’03” tall, 120 lbs, dark curly hair dyed red, and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing black pants, a red flannel shirt, black shoes, and a black hat.

Anyone with information regarding her whereabouts is encouraged to call Detective Matt Allendorph with the Antioch Police Department at (925)779-6933. You may also text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using key word ANTIOCH.

This very talented Senior Softball team from Antioch is undefeated at this point and has earned a spot in the Western Regionals tournament in Missoula, Montana. The tournament runs from July 21st – July 26th but they need your support to get them there.  These 13 girls and three coaches must be there by July 21st. All funds raised will go towards travel, food and lodging for the team.

This team is made up of girls who have played together for years through little league either on the same team or against each other. They have grown not only as team mates but as a family. This tournament means a great deal to each and every one of them as well as to our league as a whole.

This is only the second team to go this far in the last 40 years of softball. Please help support our girls and coaches by clicking here: www.gofundme.com/2ehwdgec. Any and all donations would be greatly appreciated. Thank You! Go Antioch!

Antioch High School Varsity football players from left to right, top to bottom: Guadie Campbell, Najee Harris, Omari Harris, Antoine Tanner, Iuni Mauga, Isaac Freytes and Isaiah Dunn. photos by Luke Johnson

By Luke Johnson

Antioch High School’s football team has become a national recruiting hotspot during this offseason as seven returning players have received college offers.

Senior running back Najee Harris has garnered the most attention as the world’s number one recruit according to Rivals and Scout.com. At 6-foot-2, and a lean 228 pounds, he has astonished scouts with his explosive athleticism. Last season, he set numerous school records including rushing for 2,744 yards and scoring 39 touchdowns. The five-star recruit has earned 32 scholarship offers from the top collegiate program, but has been verbally committed to the University of Alabama since April 2015.

The rest of roster with offers goes as followed: seniors cornerback Isaiah Dunn (5), cornerback/wide receiver Antoine Tanner (1), safey/wide receiver Issac Freytes (1), juniors linebacker/running back Omari Harris (4), tight end Iuni Mauga (1) and sophomore wide receiver Gaudie Campbell (2).

“I was relieved that my hard work is starting to pay off. My mom isn’t wasting her money for nothin’,” Tanner said about being offered by Kentucky Christian University.

Assistant head coach Brett Dudley said his relationship with college recruiters has changed drastically in the past two years. At one point, he could not get a college representative to click on a link in an email even if he paid them, but during May, he had 10 to 20 college coaches visiting him on campus each week. Earlier this year, the likes of Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly and Alabama’s Lane Kiffin stepped onto AHS grounds.

Dudley added that the best part about this quantitative amount of exposure is that all levels of college football are giving Antioch their attention. Not everyone on the team is like Najee Harris and built to play in the SEC, but this gives other players the opportunity to play at lower-level colleges and receive a free education.

Several of these offers are coming from the state of Utah with four produced by Brigham Young University (N. Harris, Dunn, Freytes and Campbell) and three by the University of Utah (Harris, Harris and Dunn). Three offers have came from Eastern Washington University (O. Harris, Mauga and Campbell) while two have came from the local, prestigious school of Cal-Berkeley (Harris and Harris).

Campbell and Mauga’s offers come under rare circumstances as they have yet to play at the varsity level. Dudley said recruiters are attracted to their potential, and “what they can become.” Both are 15 years old. Campbell is 6-foot-2 with a high vertical and a father whom is 6-foot-6, while Mauga is already 6-foot-2 and 222 pounds.

Players and coaches alike feel that these accolades have boosted the team’s confidence, but it has also put a target on their backs for opponents.

Antioch High graduates celebrate as they file in for the commencement ceremony, Friday night, June 2, 2016. photos by Luke Johnson

Families celebrate their Antioch High graduates.

By Luke Johnson

Nearly 300 graduates assembled in Eells Stadium for Antioch High School’s Class of 2016 Commencement Ceremony, Friday night, June 3rdd. This marked the first graduating classes for three academies: Media Technology, Environmental Studies, and Leadership and Public Services.

It was also the Engineering Academy’s third graduating class. With all these separate academies, Principal Louie Rocha likes to describe it as “four schools within one large high school.”

The campus has gone through several changes over the past two years with a new football field, administrative building, library and modernized classrooms. Still to come on the construction timeline is a new cafeteria, aquatic center and media center.

Antioch High ASB President Julia Odom shares her parting thoughts with the Class of 2016.

In her speech, Associated Student Body President Julia Odom emphasized that this moment was bitter-sweet, because although she was receiving a diploma, it signified that there will be some activities she will never get to do again, such as getting ready for prom and attending sports games.

“I’ll probably miss being a student athlete most, because that’s like a real big part of who I am, and it’s helped build my character throughout the years,” Odom said after the ceremony.

AHS’s athletic department reached milestones that had not been seen in decades. Its football team went undefeated in the regular season for the first time since 1977, and its boys’ volleyball team won a league championship for the first time since 1996. Rocha said the school’s athletic and academic success this year was like combining the old Antioch High School with the new one.

Excited Deer Valley grads prepare to receive their diplomas. Photos by Luke Johnson

Families celebrate their graduates.

By Luke Johnson

The largest high school in the Antioch Unified School District, Deer Valley High School, held its annual Commencement Ceremony for the Class of 2016, honoring approximately 600 graduates in its newly resurfaced football stadium, Thursday evening, June 2nd. These diploma recipients have left a lasting impression according to Vice Principal Blair Wilkins.

“The Class of 2016, as a whole, are some of the most selfless students I have worked with in my 10 years in the AUSD,” Wilkins said. “In conversations I have had with students, they spoke about the legacy they wanted to leave so that the students behind them inherited a better school.”

Students and faculty alike feel that Deer Valley High School receives unfair and out of perspective negative criticism from the public on a regular basis. But this year, students decided to stand up for themselves and conducted a positive protest in October. They stood in front of the campus, waving signs that read, “Stop the Hate,” and “This is the real Deer Valley,” among several other messages.

Deer Valley girl grads stand for their turn to receive their diplomas.

Student speaker and Senior Class President Emma Hamilton said what she will remember most about her high school experience is the diversity to come out of Deer Valley.

“We have a huge variety of personalities,” Hamilton said. “We have people who achieve well in school, people who want to pursue a rap career and all of the above. It’s just amazing.”