By Tami Barrera

Antioch High’s graduation ceremony was filled with a rambunctious crowd eager to graduate, balloons in the air being popped incessantly, beach balls erupting into the senior crowd accompanied by strong, rich and full oooohs and ahhhhhs swiftly followed by boos to the Antioch staff that kept confiscating the items.

The seniors just wanted to have fun on their last day as reigning seniors.

Senior Class President Paul “Lenny” Costa III took to the stage with the message, “Every single one of you makes a huge difference.”

Before telling everyone “to dream their own dream,” he reminded the senior class that they witnessed the introduction of new technology – the iPhone and the PlayStation 3, they experienced Britney Spears’ shaved head, they were part of history in the making when Barack Obama was elected president, they saw the San Francisco Giants finally win their sixth World Series after 56 years of a dry spell, they saw the death of the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the death of Osama Bin Laden, they were inspired by artists Lady Gaga, the Foo Fighters, Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift and they enjoyed the movies The Dark Knight, Transformers and 300.

Costa explained that every graduating senior is more than just a number, and encouraged them to take the world by storm and “stand up and make a difference.” He let the graduating class know that they are meant for greatness, they are made with a purpose and they “have the power to do whatever they set their minds to.”

Before stepping down and turning the podium over to the four salutatorians and seven valedictorians, Costa gave some last minute advice: “First, never use your teeth or your car keys as tools. Second, never criticize a man’s driving; it makes us very upset. Never ever cook a corndog in the microwave – it needs to be cooked in the oven. And never take sleeping pills and laxatives at the same time.”

He closed with a poem by his grandmother that was written in 1969:

Today
Why give yesterday and its dwellers
one mite of consideration
if it sheds one dim light on today.
Why fret about the past
or its stigmas attached to it
when the only thing it accomplishes
is to depress the present.
Each new day
should bring a fresh awareness of life.
The realization of goals
and dreams come true.
Be vital today –
let no thoughts of yesterday prevail
unless it adds glory today.

Antioch Unified School District Superintendent Donald Gill accepted the class of 2011 and told them the secret of making a million dollars in their lifetime: stay in school and finish post secondary certificates and bachelor degrees. “After you further your education use your newly acquired knowledge for the economic and social well being in any community where your career ultimately takes you,” he said.

May all Antioch High’s graduates know that they have accomplished a feat that will propel them to greatness in the future. Congratulations, Class of 2011.

Deer Valley Divine Voices sing for the 2011 graudating class.

By Tami Barrera

What comes to mind when we hear the phrase “my son/daughter is graduating”? A dignified young person in a cap and gown finishing one journey and getting ready to embark on a new one, a seat in the bleachers listening to a few speeches that may run just a little too long, or fidgety young people chomping at the bit to see their name on a piece of paper with a signature?

Deer Valley High School valedictorian Nada Rendradjaja sees 600 people, lives, heartbeats that all beat individually.

“Sure, we may all be here in our matching caps and gowns,” she said. “We were freshman when we were required to wear lanyards around our neck on campus, and sure you can’t forget the uniform policy implemented right at the beginning of our last semester, but despite all of this we are far from being complete clones of each other.”

She believes that all have struggled in some way or another to reach this all important milestone in their lives. A teacher’s advice that “we should all be a little bit uncomfortable” provides room for growth and progression in life. She added, “Make the best of who you are and never stop being a little bit uncomfortable.”

Co-principals Scott Bergerhouse and Clarence Isadore took the stage to offer encouragement for the students’ future and let the graduating class of 2011 know how close to their hearts they truly are and how proud of them they are.

The graduates were on their best behavior. They were dignified ladies and gentleman that showed by their actions in their seats how proud they were of this accomplishment and knew not to take it lightly let alone for granted.

Bergerhouse said, “It is an honor to stand in front of excellence, and I want you to know you have outstanding character. You are standing alone as leaders of our future.”

Deer Valley Co-Principals Scott Bergerhouse and Clarence Isadore speak to the graduates.

Isadore said, “Someone important once said, ‘It is not what you achieve, but what you overcome.’ Most of all your being here today has set you up for tomorrow. In the four years you have been here there have been 33 championships, an award winning DVTV program, visual arts program, career tech program, auto tech program, 16 North Coast Section Banners, and 7 North Coast Section Academic Banners. This is no doubt a product of the academies that make Deer Valley High School their home. The academies are comprised of The Science Research Ace Academy, Law Academy, Delta Performing Arts Academy and The Business Technology Academy.”

Isadore called Deer Valley High School “The Academic Power House.” Bergerhouse reinforced that with, “Deer Valley High School is a home where opportunities are endless.” Both principals told the graduates to go out into the world – set the tone, make a difference, find new horizons, cherish the Deer Valley High School memories and to always remember that they are the class of 2011.

Congratulations, class of 2011.

By Tami Barrera

There’s lots going on in the Antioch Unified School District from awards to innovative learning academies to providing air-conditioning and other upgrades to older schools.

The Science Department at Deer Valley High School, which is led by Jeff Adkins, has won awards for projects regarding how we live on this planet and take care of it.

AUSD officials have learned that breaking learning up into smaller communities will give students more of an interest in completing school and at a higher level. A federal grant given to Antioch High School will be utilized to give a competitive edge to incoming freshmen. To create this strong foundation in 2011-12, they will be implementing a week of welcome that will launch these future dreamers of tomorrow into desiring more when it comes to knowledge.

As the student advances through the years learning and gaining insight into themselves and what they have to offer, they will find that their horizons can be broadened by the many choices that will be presented to them in the form of academies.

Deer Valley High offers the Business Tech Academy, which mimics the work environment to prepare them for their future beyond the walls of school. Deer Valley also offers the Science Research Academy, which has 19 students that will be graduating from this program this year and all are headed to college.

Deer Valley has also been accepted as one out of 25 schools in the country that has been asked to participate in the Teacher-in-Space program in which they will be launching a probe into space.

Dozier-Libbey Medical High School will have its first graduating class in 2012. At this high school they are determined to integrate health care across the curriculum, and they utilize CURE which is Creating Understanding and Relevance Every Day.

Deer Valley also provides the Performing Arts at Delta Academy. It opened its doors in 2008 on the Bidwell campus site with great vision and pride, and interest has more than doubled with its move to the Deer Valley campus.

Deer Valley Law Academy opened in 2009 with 90 freshmen and now has 240 students enrolled from 9th to 11th grade. This academy derives its learning model from work-based learning. Next year they will incorporate job shadowing, monitoring and community service.

Antioch High School has the EDGE Academy which stands for Engineering and Designing a Green Environment. The academy’s vision is learning designed, knowledge constructed, life engineered and environment sustained. EDGE is for students who learn best by working on projects that require using their brain and hands together.

The Measure C bond funding is making great strides with much needed improvements to the schools. Belshaw Elementary now has a new HVAC system with electrical upgrades, accessible classroom sinks, along with accessible stairs and ramps. Kimball has new security fencing, drinking fountains that are surrounded by gates so as to limit vandalism, new Clerestory windows and new HVAC in five classroom wings.

Antioch Middle School received much needed electrical service, new serving line flooring in the cafeteria, new kitchen hood and 3 compartment sink, new multipurpose room HVAC that was accompanied by a stage lift, interior walls, and library rooftop HVAC.
Park Middle School gained new accessible stairs and a ramp, a new front entrance to the school and new kitchen hood and equipment.

Antioch High School’s Beede Auditorium now has HVAC and an exterior lobby facelift. Phase two of construction will begin in the fall. For more information go to www.antioch.k12.ca.us and click on Community Information at the top of the page and then click on Citizens Bond Oversight Committee.

While times are hard and money is tight it is nice to know that there are people out there that do care about our educational future and where we can head as a district unified. With all this focus on higher education and enriched learning AUSD looks to be headed in the right direction. No matter what happens all around us, we are all a part of the same team striving to give the children what they need, a better learning environment in which to understand the world in which we all inhabit daily.

Tim Rhyan, Deer Valley High School’s veteran Athletic Director will garner top honors from California Coaches Association (CCA) this year when he will receive an Athletic Director of the Year award at its June 11 awards dinner in Sacramento.

Rhyan was selected from Athletic Directors throughout the state for his professional contribution of time, service and dedication to his profession and athletics. His career spans 40 plus years of coaching and teaching at both high schools and junior colleges in Contra Costa County. For the past 12 years he has led Deer Valley High School’s Athletic Department where under his unique leadership one-third of its student body participates in athletics.

Rhyan’s emphasis on both academics and athletics equals success for not only him, but also the school’s varsity teams who won half of all the Bay Valley Athletic League Championships in 2009-10. Among his contributions that set him apart are his authorship and implementation of multiple sports policy guides for the Antioch School District. He has also served as site director for numerous North Coast Section events, and sits on the North Coast Section Eligibility Committee.

A Pleasant Hill native, Rhyan, 65, is a graduate of College Park High School where he was an all-league player who received a full scholarship to Utah State University where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree. He later attended St. Mary’s College in Orinda where he received a Masters Degree in Athletic Administration.

CCA is a professional organization of California coaches, dedicated to maintaining the highest possible standards for athletic competition and coaching conditions in the State. Their focus is on leadership, education, training, ethics, goodwill and cultural diversity.

In his first official visit to the Bay Area, newly appointed Philippine Ambassador to the United States, Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. (center), was welcomed by (L-R) Cynthia Ruehlig, Contra Costa County Board of Education Trustee, and Walter Ruehlig, Antioch Unified School District Trustee at a reception at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco.

Ambassador Cuisia is soliciting support for “Save Our Industries Act” which will provide duty-free benefits for apparel products imported into the United States that have been manufactured in the Philippines using U.S. made fabrics.

Ambassador Cuisia asserted that The Save Act program would help both the U.S. textile industry and the Philippine apparel manufacturing industry by creating thousands of jobs and generating over a billion dollars in revenue for both countries. For more information, visit www.saveourindustriesact.org.

Dr. Robert Sheffield is now giving residents of East Contra Costa County another reason to smile by starting a local chapter of the Smile for a Lifetime foundation.

The mission of Smile for a Lifetime is to provide braces at no cost to disadvantaged children between the ages of ten and eighteen who reside in the above mentioned county. The children we strive to serve are those who would not otherwise have an opportunity for orthodontic care.

Dr. “Rob” Sheffield will award six orthodontic scholarships in 2011 and twelve scholarships annually beginning in 2012. The recipients will be selected by a local board consisting of diverse community leaders. This board will meet semi-annually to review applications and award scholarships.

Dr. Sheffield, whose office is at 3428 Hillcrest Avenue, Suite 100 in Antioch, is pleased to have the opportunity to serve our community by becoming a member of this generous foundation, and at the same time to realize his dream of serving local children who are in need of orthodontic assistance.

The Smile for a Lifetime application can be found at http://www.sheffieldortho.com/AboutUs/SmilesforaLifetime.aspx. For more information: e-mail S4Lfoundation@sheffieldortho.com or call 925.757.9100 or visit www.sheffieldortho.com.

Robert Sheffield, DDS is a respected provider of orthodontic treatment serving East Contra Costa County with offices in Antioch and Brentwood. The practice’s top priority is to provide the highest quality orthodontic care in a friendly, comfortable environment. It utilizes the latest technological advances in the industry, such as Damon System braces, Invisalign® and Insigna Custom Braces, along with the latest in computer technology (digital imaging and advanced computer graphics) to help offer faster treatment options that are more comfortable and more appealing than ever.

Smile for a Lifetime Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization comprised of local chapters throughout the country that provide quality orthodontic treatment for patients who may not have the opportunity to achieve a beautiful, straight smile without financial assistance.

The Smile for a Lifetime Foundation helps equip orthodontists with the resources necessary to help develop a local Board of Directors that will specifically select individuals for orthodontic treatment. Smile for a Lifetime Foundation’s mission is to create self-confidence, inspire hope, and change the lives of children in our communities in a dramatic way. The gift of a smile can do all this for a deserving, underserved individual who, in turn, can use this gift to better themselves and their community.

April 14th was a memorable day at Deer Valley High where allegedly five teachers and two staff members have been assaulted on campus by students this year, four of the assaults occurring this semester.

Posted comments on a local online forum written by parents/teachers/teacher relatives, etc. state that on April 14 fights broke out in different areas of the high school campus after lunch, one involving multiple kids assaulting one boy. When a teacher jumped in to stop the assault, the teacher was hit and kicked by students, as was another teacher who also responded to the incident. Ultimately Co-Principal Clarence Isadore successfully intervened.

Concerned about the assaults and the fact that they could occur again in the near future, I emailed the district office for information. I subsequently received a reply from Tony Shah, Director, Student Support Services acknowledging, “On April 14th, we did have an incident in which an isolated fight escalated to a large number of students becoming involved. Due to federal privacy rights laws, I am unable to provide you with specific information about either the incident on the disciplinary consequences. I can assure you each student involved in the incident was appropriately assigned consequences in accordance to our current discipline policy and education code.”

I wonder if AUSD reported the assaults to the Antioch Police Department?

Mr. Shah also informed me that parents receive a copy of the district’s discipline policy, and teachers and staff have received “I Understand” training conducted by the Tools For Schools educational consulting firm. The “I Understand” website states that its training program will reduce tardies, absences, detentions, suspensions, too many referrals to the principal’s office and address parent involvement and school safety.

Wonder how well it’s working overall. It doesn’t appear to have been effective in regard to school safety. Perhaps the district should seek a refund. Educational consulting programs are controversial because they’re expensive, and taxpayers wonder why they’re necessary since there are sufficient administrators downtown to properly oversee and run the district.

Antioch’s teachers have been complaining about lack of safety since 2009 when former Superintendent Dr. Deborah Sims changed discipline policy. Teachers alleged that the new lax discipline policy, which led to a signification reduction in appropriate suspensions and expulsions, was meant to improve the district’s public image, and that by keeping such students on campus the district was able to maximize state funding, which is tied to average daily attendance figures.

Having received a copy of the Student and Parent/Guardian Handbook from Mr. Shah I checked the section in regard to the district’s suspension and expulsion process. Basically it states that, except where suspension for a first offense is warranted in accordance with law, suspension shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct.

Expulsion is an action taken by the Board for severe or prolonged breaches of discipline by a student. Except for single acts of a grave nature, expulsion shall be used only when there is a history of misconduct, or other forms of discipline, including suspension, have failed to bring about proper conduct, or when the student’s presence causes a continuing danger to self or others.

My verdict is in – the students involved in the April 14th incident or any other incident in which a teacher or staff member has been aggressively defied or assaulted should be expelled immediately and a report taken in this regard by the Antioch Police Department.

Deer Valley High School Choirs will present their Spring Concert on Thursday, May 19th at 7PM at the DV Theater.

The concert will feature the DV Vocal Ensemble, Concert Choir, Divine Voices and Show Choir. Divine Voices will perform their Gold Award-Winning selections including Hold On! arranged by Moses Hoggan and Shenandoah, arranged by Darmon Meader. Show Choir will present their Gold Award-Winning Lion King Broadway Medley. The concert will also feature several soloists from the choir program. Admission is $5.

Photos by Luns Louie Photography