By Allen Payton

The Dozier-Libbey Medical High School Class of 2019, made up of 135 members, graduated during ceremonies Thursday night, June 6. The event was held in the outdoor amphitheater of Deer Valley High School and was presided over by Kasey Graham, Leadership Advisor & Activities Director who served as Master of Ceremonies.

Student body president Jenna Walker sang the National Anthem and salutatorian Aliha Mughal led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Antioch School Board President Gary Hack encouraged the graduates in his speech.

“Wherever you go, whatever you do, go and do it with all your heart,” he said.

Student speakers included the two valedictorians, Seenam Shah and Jewelina Culcasi, as well as Stephen Caufield, who won a writing competition to be a graduation speaker.

“Dozier-Libbey is literally a barn surrounded by cows,” Shah said to begin. “Every graduate here played a part in the story of the Dozier-Libbey Class of 2019. Everyone had a niche and filled it well.”

She then read a rhyming poem about their shared experience, mentioning various teachers and activities.

“You were an amazing class to learn with,” Shah concluded.

“Graduates, we did it,” Caufield said. “Four years ago, we started with a team of 200 students and here we are with a class of 135.”

He mentioned “wearing scrubs every day and being asked what hospital we worked at when we were not at school.”

“Never forget yesterday but, live for today because you never know what tomorrow will bring,” Caufield encouraged his fellow graduates.

Principal Scott Bergerhouse, ending his final year at the school, as he’ll be working in the district office, proudly shared some statistics of the graduating class.

“Seventy students of these 135 have a GPA of 3.0 and above,” he said. “Forty carry a 3.5 and above and 21 carry a 3.8 and above.”

“You have worked so hard…you have toed the line every step of the way. You will be leaders of our future,” Bergerhouse told the graduates. “All of you have touched the lives of our teachers and myself.”

“You must always stay focused on your good character,” he continued. “Don’t lose touch with these memories. Remember the past but focus on your future. The faculty and staff are proud of you.”

“Pinpoint your passion and remember, no job is beneath you,” concluded Bergerhouse.

Antioch Superintendent Stephanie Anello accepted the school’s Class of 2019, having met all the requirements to graduate. Board President Hack, and Trustees Diane Gibson Gray and Mary Rocha handed the graduates their diplomas. Trustees Crystal Sawyer-White and Ellie Householder were not in attendance.

Following that, valedictorian Culcasi shared her thoughts with her classmates.

“We have had a great ride together. We are done. We are so done. We survived and worked hard to get here,” she stated. “We can go out into the world prepared.”

“If you don’t strive for excellence you will never achieve it,” Culcasi said. “Work hard. You will find more satisfaction if you work for your accomplishments than if they are handed to you.

“Moving forwarded our mission should be serving others with the talents God has given you,” she shared.

“The greatest among you will be servants,” Culcasi said quoting Matthew 23:11 from the Bible. “We all have our place in our society.”

She then thanked her teachers and “our families for putting up with us, not just the last four years, but all of our lives.”

“I hope all ya’ll enjoy your summer,” Culcasi concluded. “I wish you well…And God bless the Class of 2019”

Mughal and Marty Jerin Guzman, Co-Class Presidents then led the Tassel Ceremony to end the evening’s events.

By Allen Payton

The graduates of the other continuation high school in Antioch, Live Oak High School, and their families and friends celebrated the accomplishment during ceremonies, Wednesday evening, June 5. The event was held in the Beede Auditorium at Antioch High School under the leadership of Principal Tim Cooper.

“Go upstream against the herd. Do what you think is right not necessarily anyone else,” AUSD Board President Gary Hack told the graduates.

Student speakers included Briana Garcia and Alexandra “Ali” Chavez.

Garcia, who served as Vice President of Leadership, gave a moving speech about the loss of her mother, who died when she was in 7th grade and how that negatively affected her high school experience.

“I didn’t feel motivated or cared for at school which caused me to fail which brought me to Live Oak,” she said. “I decided to get my life together and get an education. Where I am today, I’ve made better life choices and I’m happy where I am. I’ve had the best high school experience here. The teachers and staff really care.”

Garcia thanked her sister and brother-in-law. “I definitely couldn’t have done this without you.”

She thanked her dad.

“I’m very proud of you” he responded from the audience.

Garcia thanked her teachers “for putting up with all of us.”

She thanked Principal Cooper and the office staff.

“You all have accepted me and helped me to grow,” Garcia continued. “Don’t ever give up because there’s always a plan for you and another road for you to go down.”

Chavez spoke of her freshman and sophomore years, cutting class, smoking and drinking heavily before school.

“I was so low on credits it was almost impossible to graduate,” she said. “So, I came to Live Oak. It was the best decision my mom ever made. Thank you, mommy.”

“My first year at Live Oak I was on the Dean’s List. I had a 3.8 GPA,” Chavez shared. “The teachers here are going to push you. There is no getting left behind. I’m so thankful for all the teachers and staff for all their help.”

To her fellow graduates she said, “Let’s get out there and conquer this world.”

Awards were then presented to a variety of the graduates.

The Libbey Family Scholarship was presented to Jessica Moran-Zamora; the Knights of Columbus Scholarship was given to Maricela Cabrera, who made up 175 credits in a year and a half, had a 3.67 GPA with almost perfect attendance.

The Mayor’s Distinguished Student Award was also presented to Jessica Moran-Zamora; the Academic Award was presented to Mele Tonga who had the Highest GPA of 3.74; the Personal Growth Award, for the most improvement academically and personally, was presented to Yesenia Loera; and the Principal’s Award, which “embodies the academic side and all the other little things you would want to see in a student” said Principal Tim Cooper, was presented to Leslie Perez.

Cooper then shared his thoughts with the graduates.

“This is the time for you to chase your dreams. If you believe in yourself and what you want you can make it happen,” he said. “But you have to work at it. Nothing comes easy in life.

He then shared from people who offered what he should say on social media.

“I received over 100 responses,” Cooper said. “Here are some of the highlights from those who will be your peers. Follow your passion and talent. The money will follow. Dream big. Pay your taxes. Never burn a bridge. Learn from your mistakes. Celebrate your accomplishments. Be resilient.”

“It has truly been an honor to work with each and every one of you,” he concluded. “And remember, dreams don’t work unless you do.”

Antioch Superintendent Stephanie Anello accepted the school’s Class of 2019, having met all the requirements to graduate. Board President Hack and Trustees Diane Gibson Gray, Mary Rocha and Ellie Householder handed the graduates their diplomas. Trustee Crystal Sawyer-White was not in attendance.

By Allen Payton

The 49 graduates of one of Antioch’s two continuation high schools, Bidwell High School, and their families and friends celebrated the accomplishment during ceremonies, Wednesday evening, June 5. The event was held at the Deer Valley High School theater under the leadership of Principal Carol Lowart.

Student speakers included Kearve Williams and Jennifer Ramos. He thanked his teachers and school staff for helping the students overcome their challenges and reach their goals.

Ramos thanked her teachers “for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself,” offering her speech in both English and Spanish.

“You owe me money if you bet I wouldn’t be here,” she said jokingly, but then got serious. “We’re all destined for something greater. We were given a second chance and we won’t take that for granted.”

Awards were given to a variety of the graduates: the Principal’s Award went to Kiave Williams; the Academic Achievement Awards were given to Mahogany Oliver and Jose Viveros; Most Improved award was presented to Lataevia Beverly; the Citizen Award was given to Joselin Silva Castro; the Perseverance Award was presented to Kimore Brown; the Spirit Award was given to Irving Castenda, and the Knights of Columbus $500 Scholarship was awarded to Zamalah Shook.

“It was a memorable year,” said Principal Lowart. “These students worked very hard. We are extremely proud of you and look forward to what you will do in the future.”

Antioch Superintendent Stephanie Anello accepted the school’s Class of 2019, having met all the requirements to graduate. School Board President Gary Hack and Trustees Diane Gibson Gray, Mary Rocha and Ellie Householder handed the graduates their diplomas. Trustee Crystal Sawyer-White was not in attendance.

More than 1,300 students took part in UC Merced’s Spring Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19. Students receiving their bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees were honored together, with Chancellor Dorothy Leland delivering the keynote addresses in her final commencement as chancellor of UC Merced.

Graduates from Antioch include:

Adebowale Adedeji — B.S. Biological Sciences

Tanvi Sareen — B.S. Cognitive Science

David Satyadi — B.S. Bioengineering

Ashley Tejada — B.S. Biological Sciences

Dominique Unubun — B.A. Psychology

Ryanjit Virk — B.S. Biological Sciences (graduated with high honors)

Members of the 2009 graduating class — the first graduating class in UC Merced’s history — took part in the ceremonies. This year’s graduating class is the largest in UC Merced history.

UC Merced opened in 2005 as the newest member of the University of California system, and is the youngest university to earn a Carnegie research classification. The fastest-growing public university in the nation, UC Merced enjoys a special connection with nearby Yosemite National Park, is on the cutting edge of sustainability in campus construction and design, and supports high-achieving and dedicated students from the underserved San Joaquin Valley and throughout California. The Merced 2020 Project, a $1.3 billion public-private partnership that is unprecedented in higher education, will nearly double the physical capacity of the campus and support enrollment growth to 10,000 students. 

By Sgt. Rick Smith, Antioch Police Field Services – Patrol

On Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at 11:22 A.M., Antioch Police Officers responded with medical personnel from Contra Costa Fire to the Antioch Water Park facility at 4701 Lone Tree Way, for a possible drowning. The victim, an 11-year-old male juvenile, was at the park with a group for an end of the school year function. He was found by Antioch Water Park lifeguards at the bottom of one of the pools. He was pulled from the pool and medical treatment was performed by the water park lifeguards.

It is believed he had been under water for only a few minutes. He was breathing, but non-responsive when CCC Fire Personnel arrived and took over his care. The juvenile was transported by helicopter to a nearby hospital. As of this writing, he was awake and alert and being held for observation only.

No further information will be released at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

C.J. Nickolas, a senior in high school and a student at Givans Taekwondo in Antioch, is headed to Taekwondo Senior World Championships in Manchester, England later this month. He had to withdraw from Heritage High in Brentwood two days into his senior year because he was one of eight athletes in the United States to be picked up by the USA Taekwondo (USAT) to train full time abroad and enter the European Taekwondo Open circuit. The intention is to get those athletes ready for 2024 or 2028 Olympics.

However, Nickolas has defied the odds, outperformed the initial expectations, and is headed to the World Championships this year. A few other things have to fall into place for him to make it to the 2020 Olympics, but he is definitely on track.

Nickolas is the son of Edward Givans, owner of Givans Taekwondo in Antioch, where Nickolas trains, and Denise Nickolas of Brentwood.

“His mom and I are very proud of C.J.,” the elder Givans said. “It’s been exciting to see him advance in his skills and the competitions.”

Arriving at this place in his life was not happenstance or luck for Nickolas. He has put long hours, and extensive time into training over the years. Nickolas has made many sacrifices to get where he is and says that even in the setbacks and losses and injuries, he knows he has to continue the grind. He says he digs deep when it’s tough and keeps pressing his way.

Nickolas is finishing out his high school through an on-line school (CAVA) while he continues to train full time.

His travels in the past six months have taken him to compete in Greece, Poland, France, Croatia, Africa and Spain among other places.

He has one stop in Bulgaria before he heads back to England to train for Worlds. Then Nickolas will continue his grind to get to the coming Olympics.

Allen Payton contributed to this story.

By Allen Payton

Dozier-Libbey Medical High School senior Aliha Mughal, has been accepted to attend Princeton University and nine other colleges, next fall to study biology and pre-med.

Aliha has earned a 4.1984 weighted GPA (3.9008 unweighted) and was named Salutatorian for Dozier-Libbey Medical High School’s class of 2019. She is the daughter of Tabarak Mughal and Synary Be of Antioch.

She applied to a total of 13 schools and was accepted to 10, including San Jose State, CSU Long Beach, San Francisco State, San Diego State, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, University of Southern California, and Princeton.

Different schools have different majors, Aliha explained. She has applied for molecular biology, cell biology or micro-biology depending on the school, all on a pre-med track.

At school, she is involved in HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America), Key Club, Leadership, and serves as an AVID (Advanced Via Individual Determination) tutor. Aliha currently serves as Senior Class Representative for HOSA and Senior Class Co-President for Leadership. She previously served as Junior Class Vice President and Recognition Commissioner for Leadership, as well.

Aliha has also volunteered to help collect and sort recycling for the school during her sophomore and junior years. Outside of school, she was a member of Deer Valley High School’s Colorguard and Winterguard teams during her junior year and was one of USC’s Bovard Scholars.

Her goal is to become a doctor, “specifically an oncologist,” Aliha said.

When asked why medicine, Aliha said, “There are two components to it. I have a genuine interest in science, especially the molecular, smaller scale things. That’s what leads me toward cancer. I’m specifically interested in immunotherapy.”

“I’ve also had family members who’ve had cancer, so there’s a personal aspect to it,” she explained. “So, it’s the combination of the two.”

As of last week, Aliha hadn’t visited all of the schools she was considering

“Right now, I’m leaning toward Princeton,” she said, during an interview, last week. “I was considering U.C. Berkeley and USC.”

Aliha then visited USC, last Saturday, April 27.

The deadline for her decision was May 1st. In an email to the Herald, yesterday afternoon, Aliha wrote, “I just wanted to update you on my final college decision. I have decided to attend Princeton University.”