2011 Antioch Youth of the Year Antonio Hernandez

Antonio Hernandez is currently a student at Dozier-Libbey Medical High School. In the past 4 years he has overcome many challenges to become a leader at Dozier-Libbey and Student President of California Health Occupations Students of America. Elected by 2,000 of his Cal-HOSA peers, he now presides over more than 3,500 members and also represents Cal-HOSA students at conferences and educational meetings around the state advocating for students to consider a career in health care.

He is on the tennis team at Antioch High School and assists with the girls’ tennis team as well. He participates in volunteer activities for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and is a member of the Young Entrepreneurs at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. Everywhere Antonio goes, he exudes confidence and professionalism. Antonio joined HOSA his freshman year, became the HOSA chapter president as a sophomore and was elected State President as a junior. During his freshman year, he and two of his classmates competed in the Medical Reading event at the Cal-HOSA State Leadership Convention. As a freshmen (unheard of!), his team earned a spot in the Top 10 Winners and a trip to Nashville, Tennessee to compete at the National HOSA Convention. As sophomores, they competed in the same event and in California took home the gold medal at Nationals!

Antonio has always struggled with his weight. After learning about nutrition and exercise at Dozier-Libbey in his health science class, he took it upon himself to lose 70 pounds and has kept it off. He is an example to all students on how to take control of their life and shine as leaders.

Antonio is the first in his family to apply to a 4-year college. His goal is to become a surgeon. Antonio has overcome socio-economic odds, shyness and obesity to become an outstanding leader at Dozier-Libbey in the Antioch community and at the State level for Cal-HOSA. He is a shining example of a student who rose up, met challenges, and overcame those odds beyond everyone’s expectations. “Coming to this high school as a freshman I thought I would just take this opportunity and if I didn’t like it I would go back to regular high school.” Apparently, he liked it and as one newspaper headline read, “Senior thrives at Dozier-Libbey.”

Divine Voices and Show Choir

Truth be told, when the vision was first introduced, many people thought it was truly the impossible dream — to pull off a first class, both kid- and adult-captivating Black History Celebration at an elementary school. With scant resources and nagging constraints of time, given burdensome teacher loads to address the ever pressing No Child Left Behind test mandates, the task seemed formidable.

DVHS Dancers

If you were within hearing distance of the Jack London Elementary School multi-use room the evening of February 28th you quickly discovered, though, the doubters proven wrong. A packed and enthusiastic crowd witnessed a soul-soaring tribute that was themed as “A Taste of African American Influence Through the Eyes of the Future”.

Second grade students

PTA Treasurer Velma Wilson was the visionary of the event and the spirited Mistress of Ceremonies. Behind the scenes making the event look easy, which these events never are, were PTA Board Members Principal Debra Harrington, Teacher Liason Carin Pantell, President Tanossa Miller, Vice President Debra White, 2nd Vice President Amy Diaz, and Secretary Marcita Enis.

1st grade students

In attendance were A.U.S.D. Superintendent Donald Gill, Board President Diane Gibson-Gray, Joy Mott and Walter Ruehlig. We were honored by the attendance of Brijet Finister, Miss Black USA 2011 – California, who gracefully took photos until her smile must have hurt. We were also gifted by the presence of actress and singer Bre’ly Evans, who is currently starring with Whitney Houston in the soon-to-be released movie ‘Sparkle’.

2nd grade performers

Acknowledgments go to the California PTA, NAACP, Clap Yo’ Hands Audio Production, Sticky Chicken & Ribs and, most importantly, to the children from all grade levels who performed so awesomely.

Kudos as well to Tanossa Miller for the peach cobbler, which I could have died for.

The program started with the National Anthem and then Mrs. Pantrell led the third graders in singing “My Country Tis of Thee.” The Negro National Anthem was performed by 5th graders Claryssa Wilson, Mariah Thomas and Sianne Enis, accompanied on keyboard by Darrel Thomas.

Principal Deborah Harrington and PTA President Tanossa Miller gave a history of the PTA followed by the Kucheza Ngoma II Dance Company performing a stirring dance and a surprise call on Superintendent Gill to strut his stuff to audience hoots and hollers.

Interspersed in the program were student performances; Jesse Wilson and Ezra Enis shared selections from MLK’s ” I Have a Dream” speech. The first graders sang Michael Jackson’s “We are the World”; the 2nd graders reprised a folk song from Ghana; the third grade did Louis Armstrong’s “It’s a Wonderful World”: and the fourth-fifth graders recited from biography posters of famous African-Americans.

Deer Valley High School Divine Voices and the Show Choir, led by Michelle Stark, then mesmerized the audience with a variety of numbers, culminating in a heart-grabbing blend of the civil rights classic “We Shall Overcome” and “Lean on Me.”

The Deer Valley High Advanced Dancers, led by Sharlene Sabonis, further electrified the audience.

It was a joyous night to remember and the naysayers obligingly ate crow, in between bites of sticky ribs. I look forward to Act II next year; by then the goose bumps may have settled.

Calling all parents and students!! Are you interested in furthering successful outcomes for the Antioch schools? Come and share concerns and suggestions for your children’s education; envision what equitable and quality education looks like; explore what you know and don’t know about the education system; identify possible solutions to improve the school district.

Meet at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church Social Hall Tuesday, February 28th at 3351 Contra Loma Blvd. from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. For more information contact Sara Aceves of CCISCO Education Focus Group at (925) 322-9070.

Antioch High School will be having career fair on March 9th and PASS workshops on Saturday March 10th.

For those who are able to return on March 10th and participate in the PASS workshop they are starting to prepare the program and need a brief description of your occupation to include (2-4 sentences is all that we require).

They are still in need of volunteers in many other professions if you would be willing to participate please contact Nicole Hunt at NicoleHunt@antioch.k12.ca.us or call (925) 756-5736. They are shooting for 75 professions to be represented.

The following is a list of professions that have yet to be represented: 1. Actor 2. Buyer from a clothing store 3. Chef 4. Child Development 5. Computer Graphics 6. Cosmetology 7. Dentist 8. Dental Assistant/Hygienist 9. Designer 10. EKG Technician 11. Electrician 12. EMT 13. Environmental Compliance 14. Flight Attendant15. Hospitality Worker 16. Hotel Management 17. HVAC 18. Journalist 19. Laboratory Technician 20. Landscaper 21. Lawyer 22. Mechanic 23. Medical Administration 24. Paralegal 25. Parks and Recreation 26. Phlebotomist 27. Photographer 28. Physical Therapist 29. Plumber 30. Restaurant Owner 31. Secretary 32. Sports Medicine 33. Stenographer 34. Vet 35. Vet Technician 36. Welder 37. X-Ray Technician

Download the AHS Career Day Flyer here: http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102742453013-152/ANTIOCH+HIGH+SCHOOL+CAREER+FAIR.pdf. For more information, contact NicoleHunt@antioch.k12.ca.us or call (925) 756-5736.

On February 24th, 250 lucky kids get to visit the San Francisco Symphony for a special performance as part of the Symphony’s celebrated Concert4Kids Program.

The tickets and buses are being sponsored by the non-profit Antioch Music Foundation, courtesy of a grant from the San Francisco Foundation. Schools sending students are Belshaw, Carmen Dragon, Fremont, Kimball, Jack London., Mission and Turner Elementary and Park Middle.

The program has been been sponsored the last four years by the Music Foundation. The project is a brainstorm of Mission music specialist Geneva Payne who was also instrumental in bringing Ken Bergmann’s exhilarating Percussion Discussion concert to the El Campanil Theatre.

On March 1st the renowned Bergmann, who has performed at the Theatre de la Ville in Paris, Royal Albert Hall in London and Carnegie Hall in New York, will perform three shows for over spellbound 1,600 kids. A music teacher at Jack London, Bergmann yearly donates his time and talent for this Antioch treasure at which which he percusses on everything but the kitchen sink while running the gamut from Beethoven to rock, throwing in an enactment of an old-time radio show for good measure.

Walter Ruehlig, President of the Antioch Music Foundation, exclaims, “After seeing the Percussion Discussion twelve times I know I will again get bug-eyed and rabbit-eared at the upcoming shows. It’s a rush of inspiration and I laugh so hard my insides hurt. This guy has entertainment coming out of his pores.”

For more information on the Foundation and upcoming events, including the East County Idol on April 20th, visit www.antiochmusic.org.

Winners of the Park Middle School Spelling Bee who are going on to regional competition are, from left to right, 2nd place medalist , sixth grader Katelyn Pham; 1st place winner, seventh grader Chelsea Abillano: and 3rd place finisher, sixth grader Sofia Dasilva. Congratulating them are (left to right) A.U.S.D. Trustee Joy Motts, President Diane Gibson-Gray, Trustee Walter Ruehlig. Principal Didi del Chiaro and Superintendent Dr. Donald Gilll.

For Young, Civic-Minded Scholars

Publius Fellowships are awarded to highly qualified college seniors, recent college graduates, and graduate students pursuing careers in politics, scholarship, or journalism. A stipend, travel expenses, and housing are included in the fellowship.

Since 1979, the Claremont Institute has brought together every summer the most talented young conservatives in America. For two weeks the Publius Fellows meet with distinguished scholars to study the distinctive moral and political principles of the American constitutional order. In intensive daily seminars and evening symposia, fellows discuss the great issues of American politics—from the Founding to the Civil War, the Progressive Era, the New Deal, the Great Society, and the enduring disputes of liberalism and conservatism in our time.

The Publius program takes its name from The Federalist Papers. Written in 1787-88 as a series of newspaper essays, The Federalist Papers remain the preeminent work of American political journalism. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay published the papers under the pen name “Publius,” a founder of the Roman republic. The Federalist addressed the crucial political question of their day, the ratification of the Constitution and the founding of the American republic. Publius drew on both political philosophy and the experience of statesmen to commend the Constitution as the basis of free and just government.

The 2012 Publius Fellowship will be held in Newport Beach, CA from June 22-July 7. The application deadline
is March 2. For the application requirements, click here. 

For a list of all former Publius Fellows (1979-2011), click here.

“The principles of the American Founding may be self-evident, but they are not always obvious and require an articulate defense in every generation.” —Brian Brenberg, 2007 Publius Fellow

For more information about the Claremont Institute’s Publius Fellowship, contact Ben Judge, Assistant Director of Programs, at bjudge@claremont.org, or call 909-621-6825.

So Big Preschool is non-profit, non-sectarian, parent cooperative preschool in Antioch, California. It was founded in 1955 by a group of doctors in East County and has been operating from the same building at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds since that time. We are licensed by the State of California and have been accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

So Big Co-op Preschool is dedicated to providing a warm and nurturing environment that helps each child develop emotionally, socially, intellectually and physically at his or her own pace. Our program is play based and encourages each child to question, to wonder, and to explore the environment in order to foster a lifelong love of learning. By involving parents at every level, families gain a sense of community, parent to parent support and the basis for future involvement in their child’s education.

Open House
March 6, 2012

5:30PM – 6:45PM
Followed by Parents Meeting at 7PM

Antioch, CA 94509
License # 070200750
Phone: 925-757-6474
Web: www.sobigpreschool.org