By Allen Payton

Deer Valley High Class of 2013 graduate Derek King started out singing rap, but switched to rhythm and blues, and it seems to be a fit. He got signed with his first label when he was 16 and is now with a large label, 300 Entertainment.

Now 19, Derek just finished touring with Kalin & Myles, a very popular Bay Area duet. The “Dedication Tour” lasted two months, and included stops in Florida and Chicago.

He also traveled to Great Britain, last year, on a tour with singer Sage The Gemini.

Derek was born in Walnut Creek and raised in Antioch, where he lives with his parents, Eric and Dietra King. He used to work as a waiter at his family’s restaurant, Dad’s BBQ in Pittsburg. But, now he’s working on a new EP (electronic play album) and some new videos, as well.

Derek responded to a brief Q&A session:

Q. How did you get into making music?

A. Music started off as a hobby for me. But, as I started playing with it and getting more serious with it, I started to really enjoying making music. It’s just a great feeling for me to listen to harmonies and how stuff comes together.

Q. What is your favorite part about making music?

A. My favorite part about making music is having people listen to your music and getting their reaction on things and how it made them feel and how they like it. So, basically I love when my music can make someone happy. That’s my favorite part of music.

Q. What are your plans for the future?

A. My plan for the future is to stay consistent and stay focused and to master my craft in music and maybe help others get to where they want to be and help them understand what I know in this music business.

“Jump” was his first single and came out in 2014. His “Fake ID” mix tape of 12 songs includes “Fake Love,” “What It Do,” “Came Here For” and “Teasin,” which also became a single. Both of his singles, which the label promotes, can now be heard on the radio, including Bay Area station KMEL.

“Prince Charming” is his latest single, which he dropped onto YouTube, this year.

When asked how he got into making music, Derek replied, “

He has several write-ups online, which you can see if you search his name.

A series of mentions about his songs can be seen on www.thisisrnb.com.

“One of our favorite new radio friendly records of the moment now has an accompanying video. Released just about a week ago, emerging teen singer Derek Kingteams up with fellow Bay Area rapper IAMSU! for the visual to their infectious new song ‘What It Do,’” reads one of their posts.

Another was written, last year, when Derek was chosen the Young California Pick of the Week on May 14, 2014. That can be viewed here: www.youngcalifornia.com/tag/derek-king/

To listen to his music and view his videos, go to www.youtube.com/user/DerekKingOnline. You can also follow him on Twitter @DerekKingOnline where he has over 63,000 followers.

The USA Basketball 16 and Under boys championship team.

Alan Lloyd Jr with his championship trophy.

By Allen Payton

Alan Lloyd, Jr., of Antioch, traveled to Europe for the United World Games, as part of the USA Basketball team 16 and Under boys and helped them bring home the gold.

“They played a lot of good teams,” his father Alan, Sr. said. “And they came out on top.”

Alan, Jr. just celebrated his 13th birthday, this week and will be an eighth grader at Black Diamond Middle School, this year. The talented, young scholar athlete, who had a 3.6 GPA, this year, was the youngest player on the USA team. His teammates will be in 10th and 11th grade. 

“He has been playing with high schoolers for the past five years,” Alan, Sr. added.

Now Alan, Jr. is preparing to play in the upcoming West Coast National AAU tournament in Las Vegas, this week, from Thursday to Sunday. Good luck to him and his team!

Sean Shinn with his flag box Eagle Scout project.

By Allen Payton

Sean Shinn started in scouting in second grade. A few months later he met Josie Monaghan, founder of the East County Veterans Thrift Stores in downtown Antioch, at the 9-11 Memorial event and kept in constant contact.

“I’ve been around vets my entire life,” Shinn, now a junior at Antioch High and a member of Troop 151, said. “So, helping Josie would be amazing since she’s been helping every veteran that’s come back. I helped her with her store when she was starting out.”

So when it came to do a project to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, he contacted Josie. Shinn had already done two other projects at the [Veterans] Peer Counseling Center, including making a brochure rack, for the self-help mentoring. Plus, he organized the books they already had.

One of the ideas was a box for collecting American flags that are torn, tattered or faded, so they can be properly disposed of.

“They’re no longer fit for duty, according to the Flag Code,” Shinn shared. “They’re then retired.”

That’s done in two ways, either by burning or burying the flag.

He built the box and installed it in February, this year and a variety of flags have already been deposited in the box.

Shinn spoke of properly retiring a flag.

“It has to be done respectfully,” he shared. “Only Boy Scouts or military are authorized to do a flag retirement ceremony.”

He is almost done earning his desired rank.

“I have a couple more things to do,” Shinn stated. “One more merit badge and then my Eagle Scout Board of Review. Then I’m there. Hopefully in the next couple months.”

His future plans include military service with hopes of attending the Naval Academy.

If you have a worn American flag, you can bring it the East County Veterans Thrift Store at 522 West Second Street in Antioch and place it in Shinn’s flag box. It will be disposed of properly.

Jason Agopian goes up for a spike in a game against UCLA in April, 2015. photo courtesy of Jason Agopian.

By Allen Paytons

Collegiate volleyball player, Jason Agopian, of Antioch is heading to South Korea on Sunday to play on the U.S. men’s volleyball team during the World University Games in July. He is one of 12 players selected from across the country. He and two of his teammates of U.C. Irvine are on the team.

There are three levels of teams that represent that United States at sporting competitions, Agopian explained.

“There’s the U.S. Olympic national team,” he said. “Those are the top dogs. The Panamerican Games team. Those guys are the number two. And then there’s the World University Games team, the next level down.”

The international competition includes a Winter Games, Summer Games and World Championships. This year’s Summer Games will be held in Gwangju, South Korea, and includes collegiate athletes on various teams, chosen from around the country. It will last from July 2 -11.

“It’s pretty cool,” Agopian shared. “There’s an opening ceremony. It looks very much like the Olympics.”

Contacted in May, Agopian “was asked to play for this team to represent the USA at the World University Games made up of collegiate athletes from across the country,” he added.

For those who want to watch him and the USA team play, the games will be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN3.

In addition being part of the U.S. men’s volleyball team for the World University Games, Agopian was also selected Second Team All American by Volleyball Magazine, this year, in which he was a red shirt junior. He’ll play one more year, as a senior.

In addition, he was selected First Team for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, of which UCI Men’s Volleyball team is a member.

Agopian was also part of UCI’s 2013 Men’s Volleyball team that won the National Championship.

A 2011 graduate of Deer Valley High School where he also played on the volleyball team, the 6-foot, 7-inch tall Agopian is majoring in Psychology and Social Behavior. But he said he’s considering a career in physical therapy, which will require additional education.

There are 12 players on the team heading to the games. Agopian plays middle blocker. When he rotates to the back row, a player called the libero, who has a different colored jersey, comes in off the sidelines and takes Agopian’s place. Then when the libero rotates to the front, Agopian returns and takes the libero’s place.

He leaves for Southern California, on Saturday, where he and the rest of the team will meet up for the first time and practice. They will then fly to South Korea on Sunday night.

But, before he leaves on Sunday, Agopian will be the subject of a photo shoot to become the face of UCI Sports for the upcoming school year. His photo will show up in marketing for the school, mainly on campus and possibly on buses.

Agopian is the son of Robin and the late Antioch City Councilman Gary Agopian.

For more information on the World University Summer Games, www.wugusa.com/summer-games/. To learn more about UC Irvine Men’s Volleyball, visit www.ucirvinesports.com/sports/m-volley/index.

Good luck to Jason and the USA Men’s Volleyball Team!

Three Antioch girls have decided to join together to celebrate their Sweet 16 birthdays, this Saturday night and wanted to let the world know.

Savannah Eve Thrower is the daughter of Brandon and Danyell Thrower. Savannah is considered a book-smart nerd, she loves to read and write. Savannah plans to one day, finish writing her own book and would love to share it with the world. She is nice and likes to make new friends. She also wants to pursue a career in photography and share her creativeness with the world.

Ajanna Malaya Williams Jamison is the daughter of Michael and Adeesha Jamison. Ajanna, who goes by AJ, is a student athlete who is on her varsity high school basketball team. She also works in community service and on fundraisers. Ajanna plans to attend a four-year college and major in forensic science.

Felicity Terezah Faith Scott is the daughter of Percy and Dannette Scott. Felicity has a very interesting taste in fashion. She has created her own personal style in which her goal is to represent how important it is to be an individual and unique. Felicity is also a student athlete as a member of her high school varsity basketball team, runs track, dances, is part of the yearbook committee, and is very active in church.

Happy Sweet 16 Birthday, ladies!

Isaiah Foskey flexing next to trainer Mori Suesue at Malu Fitness in Antioch. photo by Marcus Malu

By Luke Johnson

Isaiah Foskey, an eighth grader at Holy Rosary Catholic School, was offered a football scholarship from University of Kansas on Thursday, May 21.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” his father Terry Foskey said. “I thought he might have been too young, but as I researched on Google, I’ve seen people even younger than that who have received offers. This whole ordeal is new to me. My wife and I are really excited about it.”

Isaiah stands at six feet, two inches and weighs in at a chiseled 190 pounds at only 14 years of age. On top of that, he is able to squat three reps of 275 pounds.

When he attended school the day following his offer, fellow students took pictures with and flexed their arms to mimic the photo attached to this article that trended on social media. They also pretended to hold a microphone up to his mouth and interview him as if they were members of the press.

Foskey last played for East County Youth Football at tight end and defensive end, where he collected nine touchdown receptions and caused seven forced fumbles in 12 games according to him and his father. In high school, he plans to play for De La Salle in Concord, which has arguably the most illustrious high school football program in the country.

When asked where this scholarship offer ranks among Foskey’s other accomplishments in sports, he deferred to an academic achievement and said this compares to a certificate he received for having a GPA above 3.5.

“When I go to De La Salle I just wanna keep my grades up and play well in football,” Foskey said.

Foskey does not have to accept the offer from KU right away. He actually has to wait until February of his senior year, in 2019 to sign his letter of intent to whichever college he chooses.

Erica Wagoner, discussing college scholarships with ILSP Program Coordinator, Don Graves.

One Face, One Bright Future: Tomorrow night, 18 year old Erica Wagoner from Pittsburg, and 85 other teens will take the next big step into adulthood, as they graduate from Contra Costa County’s Independent Living Skills Program (ILSP). For Erica, graduation will come with at least $1,500 in scholarships. While she’s not certain about a college major, she is confident, she’ll advocate for foster youth like herself, “You want foster youth to succeed after what they’ve been through”, she says, knowing what that really means.

Erica was 16 when her home life became less than stable, and she moved in with friends. Her brother and sisters went to live in other homes. Nothing was secure in her life; until she started attending the ILSP Program in Martinez. Here she says, she found, “People to trust. Even if you don’t think you need help, they know how to help.”

In its 27th year in Contra Costa County, with funding from the Federal Government and reliant upon community donations; ILSP prepares foster youth for their future, with life and employment skills training, money management and cooking classes, and provides them with the guidance to map their futures by going to college or a job training program.

June 16th, at Centre Concord, $65,000 in scholarships will be awarded; one more way ILSP is living up to its motto, “We deal in futures.”

Unified Basketball League game between Heritage High and Antioch High. photo by Michael Pohl

By Luke Johnson

Antioch and Deer Valley High School, along with Pittsburg High, have joined the three schools from the Liberty Unified High School District to become a part of a unified basketball league. This program, in conjunction with Special Olympics, is the first in Northern California.

Last year, Freedom High (Oakley) Athletic Director Steve Amaro helped develop a unified basketball league for the LUHSD, and the in-game atmosphere was electric and exceeded expectations.

“It was a full gym,” Amaro said about the first game of last season. “It was amazing… It became more of an event than I ever expected.”

Amaro invited Antioch High Athletic Director Ferris Anthony to a game and he immediately fell in love with it, and was on board for incorporating it on to his campus.

“I came back to the athletic directors‘ meeting and said, ‘Count Antioch in!’” Anthony exclaimed. “They were all looking at me like, ‘What? What?’ I said, ‘We’re in, man. This is something we wanna do. This is a great thing.”

Team rosters are formed by unifying life skills students with regular education students. What this does, is make life-skills students feel they are apart of the school and creates bonds with regular education students.

“They see me around school and say, ‘Hey, whats up?’ And that makes me feel real good, because they see we are also people in life, so we can also do what they do, but differently,” Deer Valley unified basketball player Jesus Guerra said to MaxPreps.

This program is currently growing, and has already caught the attention of the Mount Diablo Unified School District along with middle schools in Brentwood. Unified sports in the Bay Valley Athletic League has already expanded to include bowling in the fall and will have an undetermined athletic competition in the winter. This, like many other incredible things, is expected to catch on like wildfire.

“It felt real good. I never thought I was going to do this in my life,” Guerra said after a game against Pittsburg.

The Antioch High Unified Basketball Team. photo by Michael Pohl